Ida developed quickly yesterday from a tropical depression to a Category one hurricane. NASA satellite data yesterday revealed some powerful thunderstorms around the center of circulation, which gave forecasters clues that Ida was powering up.

At 7 a.m. EST on November 5, Ida had maximum sustained winds near 75 mph. Hurricane Ida’s center was near latitude 12.8 north and longitude 83.4 west or about 60 miles north-northeast of bluefields Nicaragua and about 85 miles south of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Ida is moving toward the northwest near 7 mph and a gradual turn to the north-northwest with a slight decrease inforward speed is expected during the next day or two.

According to the National Hurricane Center, “On the forecast track, Ida will make landfall along the eastern coast of Nicaragua this morning and move across portions of eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras during the next couple of days.

Hurricane warnings are in effect in Nicaragua from Bluefields north to Puerto Cabezas. A Hurricane watch is in effect from Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua north to the Honduras border. There are also tropical storm warnings for the Costa Rica / Nicaragua border to Bluefields, and from Puerto Cabezas north to the border with Honduras.

Rainfall is expected to be heavy, with totals at San Andres Island from 5 to 7 inches, with a maximum up to 12 inches. Eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras will get the brunt of the heavy rain, as 15 to 20 inches are expected with a maximum up to 25 inches! These rains are likely to cause life-threatening flashfloods and mudslides.

The coast isn’t exempt either, as the 3-foot storm surge from Ida will bring large and battering waves.

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), GOES-11 captured a visible image of Hurricane Ida near the Nicaraguan coast today November 5. GOES is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and NASA’s GOES Project, located at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. creates some of the GOES satellite images.

Once Ida makes landfall and starts moving over Nicaragua and Honduras, it could dissipate, however, some forecast models project that it will survive and move back into the Gulf of Mexico.