Hurricane Ida approaches the Louisiana coast

 Hurricane Ida rapidly intensified Saturday night and its top sustained winds have climbed to 150 mph. It will make landfall today in Louisiana as a devastating hurricane, and conditions are already worsening this morning.

The hurricane may strengthen a little more over the northern Gulf of Mexico before landfall along the Louisiana coast, where Hurricane Warnings and Storm Surge Warnings remain in place.

Ida's sustained winds of 150 mph match those of Hurricane Laura when it made landfall last year in Louisiana.

Parts of the northern Gulf Coast will face flooding rain, dangerous storm surge and damaging winds Sunday and Monday.

Dangerous storm surge over 9 feet deep, and possibly as high as 16 feet, may occur near the core of the storm. Much of the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coast will see several feet of storm surge inundation.

Most of the pumps in New Orleans are ready for service to try to limit the flooding in the city.

Destructive wind damage is expected in southern Louisiana as winds exceed 110 mph. The strong winds will spread inland as Ida tracks north on Sunday. Winds this strong will cause power outages, snap trees and damage or destroy structures. 

The heavy rain threat will spread inland by Sunday continuing into early week as Ida moves north. Flooding is possible for much of Louisiana and Mississippi. Coastal areas in Louisiana could see over one foot of rain.

Spaghetti models agree with one another that the center of Ida's track will hit southeastern Louisiana, then hook toward the northeast. However, Ida's effects will extend well beyond the center of the storm.

Spaghetti models or plots show a series of individual computer forecast models together on one map. They are useful to give insight into whether multiple models are in agreement or not on the path of the storm but they do not address the storm’s forecast intensity, winds, flooding and storm surge potential or other data. Tap here for more details on to best use these models.

Tropical alerts

Hurricane Warning:

• Intracoastal City, Louisiana to the mouth of the Pearl River, including New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain

Tropical Storm Warnings:

• Cameron, Louisiana to the west of Intracoastal City, Louisiana
• Mouth of the Pearl River to the Mississippi/Alabama border

Storm Surge Warning:

• East of the Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana to the Alabama/Florida border, including Lake Pontchartrain and Mobile Bay.

Tropical Depression Ten and Tropical Depression Eleven formed in the Atlantic Saturday. Both will continue on a track in open waters.

One other tropical disturbance has a high chance to develop over the next five days, while another off the Mid-Atlantic coast has a low chance of development. Track them all here.