It usually takes several days or even a week for a tropical storm to grow into a powerful hurricane. But if conditions are just right, a major hurricane can develop in just hours.
The process, known as «rapid intensification,» is expected to be seen with Hurricane Ida on Saturday afternoon into the evening, meteorologists say. As of 2 p.m. ET Saturday, Ida had strengthened into a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. But the storm’s wind field is expanding over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and it’s expected to begin rapidly intensifying soon, according to the NHC. «Rapid strengthening is forecast during the next 24 to 36 hours and Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it approaches the northern Gulf Coast on Sunday,» the NHC said. The updated forecast track from the hurricane center has the storm still strengthening into a Category 4 hurricane by Sunday, then making landfall on the central Louisiana coast with sustained winds of at least 130 mph. Ida already rapidly intensified Friday prior to landfall and as it made landfall on Cuba — gaining 40 mph in wind speed, from 40 mph Thursday night to 80 mph Friday night. Sign up for email updates for significant storms A storm like this undergoes rapid intensification when its maximum sustained winds increase at least 35 mph in 24 hours or less, according to the National Hurricane Center. That’s a jump of about two categories on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which grades hurricane strength from 1 to 5. TRACK IDA’S PATH >>> Hurricane Grace, which struck the eastern coast of Mexico on August 21 as a Category 3 storm, was the last major hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico to rapidly intensify — gaining 55 mph of wind strength in 24 hours to measure 125 mph at landfall.
