Ida update
The latest projection from the National Hurricane Center (valid 9pm CST Sunday) is above. (Click the map for more detail.) The storm is forecast to make landfall near Pensacola, FL around dawn Tuesday morning as a minimal hurricane, though according to

Ida's effect on Memphis metro weather
Hurricane Ida has become a strong category 2 storm as it enters the southern Gulf of Mexico this afternoon, packing 100 mph wind as it passes east of Cancun. Forecast tracks and strength are complicated by several factors including upper-level low pressure over the northwestern Gulf, an approaching trough that will move into the southeastern U.S., and shear and cooler water over the northern Gulf.Forecast models seem to be handling the resultant storm somewhat differently. It will continue to bear watching, but the net effect appears to be that portions of the Gulf Coast, most likely southern AL and MS, a part of the FL Panhandle, and possibly southeastern LA, could see minima

Hurricane Ida Advisory - 3pm Sunday
HURRICANE IDA ADVISORY NUMBER 20NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL300 PM CST SUN NOV 08 2009...CENTER OF IDA MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO...A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN GULF COAST FROM GRAND ISLE LOUISIANA TO MEXICO BEACH FLORIDA. THIS WATCH DOES NOT INCLUDE THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS.A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE YUCATAN PENINSULA OF MEXICO FROM PLAYA DEL CARMEN TO CABO CATOCHE. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT

Tropical Storm Ida forms in the southwest Caribbean Sea
After a relatively quiet period in the tropics for several weeks (the last tropical system to threaten any land areas was Erika two months ago, which passed over the Leeward Islands), a newly-formed depression has quickly become Tropical Storm Ida over the southwestern Caribbean. At 3pm CST, the c

October climate data and forecast accuracy
October continued the trend started in September by being much wetter than normal - in fact, record wet! The excess clouds and precipitation contributed to cool temperatures for the month. Following are climate summaries for Memphis and Bartlett, TN.Memphis International Airport, Memphis, TNAt Memphis Int'l Airport, the average temperature was 60.7 degrees, which was 3.1 degrees below normal. The highest temperature for the month was 85 degrees on the 8th and the lowest was 38 on the 18th. No temperature records were set in October. Though October is climatologically the driest month of the year in Memphis, October 2009 went into the books as the wettest