HURRICANE IDA ADVISORYNWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL112009
1000 AM EST THU NOV 05 2009
HURRICANE IDA INLAND OVER EAST-CENTRAL NICARAGUA...
A HURRICANE IDA WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST COAST OF
NICARAGUA FROM BLUEFIELDS NORTHWARD TO PUERTO CABEZAS.
HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE WARNING
AREA DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.
AT 10 AM EST...1500 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF NICARAGUA HAS
DISCONTINUED THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING FROM SOUTH OF BLUEFIELDS TO
THE NICARAGUA/COSTA RICA BORDER.
A HURRICANE IDA WATCH AND A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR
THE EASTERN COAST OF NICARAGUA FROM NORTH OF PUERTO CABEZAS TO THE
HONDURAS/NICARAGUA BORDER. A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE
CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA. A TROPICAL STORM
WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED SOMEWHERE
WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
INTERESTS IN HONDURAS SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF HURRICANE IDA.
FOR HURRICANE IDA INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...PLEASE MONITOR
PRODUCTS ISSUED BY YOUR NATIONAL METEOROLOGICAL SERVICE.
AT 1000 AM EST...1500 UTC...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IDA WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 13.1 NORTH...LONGITUDE 83.7 WEST OR ABOUT 75 MILES...
125 KM...NORTH OF BLUEFIELDS NICARAGUA AND ABOUT 65 MILES...105 KM
...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF PUERTO CABEZAS NICARAGUA.
HURRICANE IDA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 6 MPH...9 KM/HR...AND A
TURN TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY...FOLLOWED BY A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTH LATE FRIDAY OR FRIDAY NIGHT. ON THE FORECAST
TRACK...THE CENTER OF IDA WILL MOVE ACROSS EASTERN NICARAGUA AND
EASTERN HONDURAS DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 75 MPH...120 KM/HR...WITH HIGHER
GUSTS. HURRICANE IDA IS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE.
WEAKENING IS EXPECTED AS IDA MOVES INLAND OVER NICARAGUA TODAY AND
TONIGHT. IDA IS FORECAST TO WEAKEN TO A TROPICAL STORM LATER
TODAY.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 15 MILES...30 KM...FROM
THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IDA...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 70
MILES...110 KM.
ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 987 MB...29.15 INCHES.
HURRICANE IDA IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 7INCHES OVER THE ISLANDS OFF THE COAST OF NICARAGUA WITH MAXIMUM
AMOUNTS OF 12 INCHES POSSIBLE. RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 15 TO 20
INCHES ARE EXPECTED OVER EASTERN NICARAGUA AND EASTERN HONDURAS
WITH MAXIMUM AMOUNTS OF 25 INCHES POSSIBLE. THESE RAINS COULD
PRODUCE LIFE-THREATENING FLASH FLOOD AND MUD SLIDES.
A STORM SURGE COULD RAISE WATER LEVELS BY AS MUCH AS 3 FEET ABOVE
GROUND LEVEL ALONG THE EAST COAST OF NICARAGUA...WITH LARGE AND
DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF WHERE THE
CENTER OF HURRICANE IDA MAKES LANDFALL. WATER LEVELS SHOULD BEGIN TO SUBSIDE
LATER TODAY.
...SUMMARY OF 1000 AM EST INFORMATION...
LOCATION...13.1N 83.7W
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...75 MPH
PRESENT MOVEMENT...NORTHWEST OR 315 DEGREES AT 6 MPH
MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...987 MB
MANAGUA (Reuters) - Hurricane Ida slammed into Nicaragua's Caribbean coast on Thursday after dumping heavy rain on little-developed offshore islands where hundreds of people were evacuated from flimsy homes.
At 10 a.m. EST (1500 GMT) Ida was located about 75 miles north of the port of Bluefields, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, pounding the remote Miskito coast region with near 75 mph winds.
General Mario Perez-Cassar, Nicaragua's civil defense chief, said strong winds ripped roofs and knocked out power in Big Corn Island and Little Corn Island, some 50 miles northeast of Bluefields, home to shrimp and lobster fishermen.
"They are without power, all the electric lines are down, there are trees on the roads and no running water," Perez-Cassar told local television.
The Miami-based NHC said Ida could produce up to 20 inches of rain as it moves over eastern Nicaragua and into Honduras, risking dangerous flash floods and mud slides, but forecast it would likely weaken to a tropical storm later in the day.
Nicaragua and Honduras are key coffee exporters, and harvesting has been under way since October, but farms are mainly in mountainous areas further inland.
Persistent heavy rain could knock ripe cherries off coffee trees if it moves inland, however, and mudslides could cut off roads to coffee farms, Luis Osorio, technical director at the national coffee council, said on Wednesday.
Ida was moving northwest at close to 6 mph and the NHC's forecast showed it passing over Central America and regaining strength by Monday off Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. That could take it into the oil and gas-rich Gulf of Mexico.
Nearly 2,000 people in the Corn Islands and Sandy Bay were evacuated to shelters. "We are expecting serious impact on infrastructure," Perez-Cassar said.
