MIAMI — A tropical depression in the Caribbean has strengthened into a tropical storm and is forecast to be a major hurricane by the time it reaches the northern U.S. Gulf Coast over the next several days.
The National Weather service in Miami said Thursday that Tropical Storm Ida had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It was moving to the northwest at 14 miles an hour.
Ida was blowing about 100 miles west of Negril, Jamaica, and about 130 miles southeast of Grand Cayman late Thursday afternoon.
The latest forecast track from the National Hurricane Center has Ida moving across western Cuba Friday before going back into the open waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
By Sunday afternoon, it's expected to be nearing the coast of Louisiana, with landfall possible near the New Orleans area. However, that path is expected to change a little over the next several days, so the final strike point could be elsewhere.
Right now model guidance has the storm strengthening to a Category 2 hurricane.
