MIAMI (AP) — A depression has strengthened into a tropical storm in the Caribbean and is forecast to become a major hurricane by the time it reaches the northern U.S. Gulf Coast over the next several days.
Tropical Storm Ida was blowing about 100 miles (160 kilometers) west of Negril, Jamaica, and about 130 miles (205 kilometers) southeast of Grand Cayman late Thursday afternoon.
The National Weather service in Miami said Ida had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.
Ida could be a hurricane when it approaches western Cuba and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Friday, and a major hurricane by the time it reaches the northern U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday, the weather service said. The central U.S. Gulf Coast should start to see rain from the depression by early Sunday.
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