RICHMOND, Va. -- Hurricane Ida made landfall at 11:55 a.m. CDT near Port Fourchon, Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
Ida strengthened Saturday night, and the winds reached 150 mph at 6 a.m. CDT Sunday.
Wind speeds of 150 mph make it a Category 4 hurricane, but the wind speeds were just a few mph shy of Category 5 level.
Coastal Louisiana will be dealing with a catastrophic hurricane Sunday afternoon. In addition to the strong winds, Ida will produce localized rain totals over 20 inches and a storm surge as high as 16 feet.
Storm surge is the wall of water the hurricane pushes ahead of it at landfall. Think of when you are in water, if you move your arms along the surface, you push a wave of higher water ahead of you. In this case, the storm surge could exceed 15 feet. The storm surge occurs on top of the normal ocean height, so this will completely submerge some homes.
Ida will weaken once it moves far inland. The remnants will track to the northeast, and reach our area on Wednesday into Wednesday night. Rain will exit Thursday morning.
With the current forecast track, it looks like the heavier rainfall may stay near I-81 and across northern VA, where rain may total over two inches. As of now, it looks like the metro would pick up an inch or less of rainfall Wednesday into Thursday morning. Winds may gust over 25 mph as the area of low pressure passes by.
More info on Ida can be found in the CBS 6 Interactive Tropical Tracker.
An interesting note, hurricane names that begin with the letter "I" have been retired most often. A name is retired if the storm has an enormous impact on life and property. The peak of hurricane season is typically around September 10th, which coincides with the "I" name in many years. Nine of those storms have occurred since 2001.
Four of those storms have impacted Virginia. August 27 marked the ten-year anniversary of Hurricane Irene in Virginia.
Stay With CBS 6, The Weather Authority.
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