Ida Back Up To Cat 1 Hurricane As It Moves Across Yucatan Headed For Gulf Of Mexico

November 8, 2009 9:00 a.m. EST

Miami, FL (AHN) - Ida is back up to hurricane status with maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, the storm is approaching the northwestern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula, according to a Sunday morning advisory from forecasters.

Hurricane Ida is a Category 1 storm and is expected to strengthen to a Cat 2 storm later Sunday and then to gradually weaken again Monday night. Ida's path after it enters the Gulf of Mexico is uncertain, but it is expected to affect some portions of the United States Gulf coast over the next few days.

U.S. National Hurricane Center forecasters in the early morning advisory said Hurricane Ida was moving toward the northwest at 12 mph. Ida was centered about 70 miles east-northeast of Cozumel, Mexico and about 85 miles south-southwest of the western tip of Cuba at 6 a.m., forecasters said.

Mexican government officials have a hurricane warning in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula from Play Del Carmen to Cabo Catoche, while a hurricane watch is in place for the Yucatan Peninsula from Tulum to Playa Del Carmen. A tropical storm warning is still in effect for the Yucatan Peninsula from Punta Allen northward to Playa Del Carmen and from Cabo Catoche westward to San Felipe.

Elsewhere, a tropical storm warning is still in effect for the Cuban province of Pinar Del Rio and a tropical storm watch remains in effect for the Isle of Youth.

Ida is producing rainfall that is expected to range from accumulations of 3 to 5 inches over portions of the Yucatan Peninsula and western Cuba with possible isolated amounts up to 10 inches. 

As AHN previously reported, Ida is expected to move through the Yucatan Channel and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico later Sunday.