Hurricane Ida is poised to rapidly intensify before landfall in Louisiana late Sunday. The National Hurricane Center expects the storm to reach category 4 strength and produce "life-threatening storm surge, potentially catastrophic wind damage, and flooding rainfall" across the northern Gulf Coast.

The season's ninth named storm is likely to be a major hurricane before it makes landfall along the central Gulf coast some time on Sunday.

Tropical Storm Ida is forecast to become a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico and pose a significant risk to the central Gulf coast late in the weekend.

A new tropical depression is likely to form Thursday afternoon or evening over the western Caribbean. Atmospheric conditions favor strengthening once it enters the southern or western Gulf of Mexico this weekend.

The tropics are likely to take a break most of this week after Tropical Storm Henri's landfall in New England Sunday afternoon. That break is expected to be short-lived.

The heat and humidity will be higher than usual Thursday afternoon — even by Florida standards.

Grace is moving toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and Tropical Storm Henri is spinning south of Bermuda. Neither are likely to affect the Southeast United States, but a large outbreak of Saharan dust should be more noticeable.

Tropical Storm Fred was gradually gaining strength and slowing down as it approached the Florida Panhandle Monday morning, with landfall expected near Panama City Monday afternoon.