Ida Heads For Louisiana Sunday, Rather Routine Here This Weekend

Ida became a hurricane Friday, located near the western tip of Cuba at 5PM Friday. The Friday afternoon forecast from the NHC calls for Ida to be even stronger prior to landfall. Ida could have sustained winds of 140 mph, making it a Category 4 storm. Fortunately for us, the area of landfall remains relatively unchanged. The storm still looks very likely to move onshore along the Louisiana coast. That keeps the destructive 100 mph+ winds far away from us. However, we won’t be immune from Ida. Monday and Tuesday look like our primary days of tropical impacts. It seems the greatest threat for us will be near and west of Interstate 65. Tropical tornadoes are the primary concern, but locally heavy rain and wind gusts of around 40 mph are possible too. Ida’s circulation heads northeast of our area by Wednesday, so our weather improves by then.

Our weather looks mostly routine this weekend. Saturday and Sunday feature a mix of sun and clouds with scattered showers and storms during the afternoon and evening. Expect highs in the low 90s each day. By late Sunday, some of Ida’s outer tropical bands could arrive in south Alabama. There probably won’t be a severe risk with these, but they could produce heavy downpours.

Outside of the specific tropical threats mentioned earlier, Monday and Tuesday feature widespread clouds and rain, with some storms in the mix. Expect highs to only reach the 80s each day. Ida moves away from our area Wednesday, but expect some linger showers and/or storms throughout the day. Next Thursday and Friday look drier and sunnier but hot with highs in the low 90s. The mainly dry weather could continue into Labor Day weekend.