A tropical wave sweeping through the Caribbean Sea has a very high likelihood of becoming a named system as it tracks into the Gulf of Mexico late this week and into the weekend.
“Odds are we’re going to have a hurricane by the time we get out of this weekend in the Gulf of Mexico,” AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in Wednesday’s edition of his Weather Insider podcast.
The tropical disturbance, designated as Invest 99L by the National Hurricane Center earlier today was upgraded to Tropical Depression Nine, which is expected to become Ida in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend.
At the 11:00 a.m. advisory, the system was located 115 miles south-southwest of Jamaica, moving in a northwest direction at 13 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 35 mph (55 kph) with higher gusts.
The depression is becoming better organized with its path consisting of an environment that will allow it to strengthen. It is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Ida Thursday night and become a hurricane tomorrow. It could be a possible hurricane when it hits the Gulf coast.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Cayman Islands and the Cuban provinces of Matanzas, Mayabeque, Havana, Artemisa, Pinar del Rio, and the Isle of Youth.
The National Hurricane Center is also following two other disturbances in the Atlantic. One is located about 650 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and is likely to become a tropical depression as the storm moves northeast toward the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.
A second disturbance three is located in the far eastern Tropical Atlantic and is moving west-southwest, according to the NHC. The formation chance over the next two days is 20 percent and five days increases to 30 percent, the NHC has forecast.
