Tropical Storm Ian was forecast to rapidly gain strength Sunday while racing across the Caribbean toward Cuba.
Ian is expected to track near the Cayman Islands and western Cuba Monday into Tuesday. It will then pose a danger to Florida, anywhere from the Panhandle to the Peninsula.
According to the 5:00 p.m. EDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Ian is about 495 miles (795 kilometers southeast of the western tip of Cuba, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). Ian’s present movement is to the west-northwest at 12 mph (19 kph).
According to Weather.com, Tropical Storm Ian “is about to undergo explosive intensification into a major hurricane in the western Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico, a danger to the Cayman Islands, western Cuba and Florida in the coming days.”
Ian is expected to take a turn toward the northwest tonight, followed by a north-northwestward motion tomorrow, and them a northward motion on Tuesday. All this aligning itself will give the storm a slightly slower forward speed/.
In the meantime, Ian is producing some outer bands of showers with locally heavy rain wrapping into Jamaica. Ian’s strength and ability to stay organized have been hindered by persistent wind shear, which frequently limits the strength of tropical systems.
However, as Ian moves into the western Caribbean, conditions are set to become much more favorable for strengthening.
“A quick uptick in strengthening is expected early this week as Ian moves into the western Caribbean, where low wind shear and very warm water are in place. This will raise the likelihood of significant impacts in the western Caribbean, and eventually the United States,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty explained.
Some of the storm’s worst impacts may occur in western Cuba, where Ian is likely to be rapidly strengthening as it moves northward over the island. Because of this, a hurricane warning was issued for portions of the island Sunday morning.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents to load up on food, water, medicine, batteries and fuel. He said it was too soon to determine when or even if Ian will make landfall, but that evacuations may be ordered in coming days.
“Expect heavy rains, strong winds, flash flooding, storm surge and even isolated tornadoes. Make preparations now,” DeSantis said Sunday. “Anticipate power outages. That is something that is likely to happen with a hurricane of this magnitude.”
