Ida is now a category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph that have been found my Air Force Reconnaissance aircraft. Ida is over 80+ F degree water and is expected to have continual strengthening throughout the day. The NHC peaks the intensity of the storm at 85KT, but I expect a 100KT hurricane by 5pm.

Here is an image of the current Hi-res visible satellite. Striations are noted in the banding.

This looks like a rapidly intensifying system to me at this point. We will continue to monitor the progression of this system and will be deploying within the next few hours. Stay with the Alabama Storm Trackers for later updates.