Hurricane Ida intensified at one of the fastest rates on record, and plowed ashore this morning in central Nicaragua as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds. It took just 24 hours from when the first advisory was issued for Tropical Depression Eleven until Ida reached hurricane strength. Since reliable satellite measurements
Weather Underground Forecast for Friday, November 06, 2009.
Tropical storm activity has returned to the Tropical Atlantic on Friday. An area of low pressure in the southwestern Caribbean Sea has developed into Tropical Storm Ida and will track northward over Nicaragua and Honduras on Friday. The system is expected to lose much of its strength as it moves over land, but will continue to pour heavy showers and thunderstorms over the region due to abundant moisture. The system will decrease to a tropical depression with winds up to 39 mph and wave heights near 12 feet.
Meanwhile, to the west, another area of low pressure will remain under close supervision as it has low potential for tropical storm development. Flow around this system will continue picking up ample moisture from the Pacific Ocean and will spread wet weather over Costa Rica and Panama. Expect wet weather to stretch well into southern Mexico as a trough hovers over the region. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop over eastern Mexico, with scattered showers developing again over the Yucatan Peninsula.
To the east, the Greater Antilles will see light showers as the tail end of a front hovers over the region. The Lesser Antilles, however, may see more significant rainfall as a tropical wave approaches from the Mid-Atlantic.
On this date in 1961, gusty winds and low relative humidity helped to spawn a fire through Bel Air and Topanga Canyons in Los Angeles County. Over 15,500 acres and 514 buildings were destroyed.