On Friday, August 27th, 2021, I was at school when a recon flight flew into Tropical Storm Ida. The storm was over a thousand miles from my home in Chicago and it wouldn't impact us, but I was very concerned for the people on the gulf coast. The data that came in from the flight confirmed what I had feared - Ida was rapidly intensifying. A few hours later, Ida made landfall in Cuba as a category 1 hurricane. The storm was continuing northwest into the Gulf of Mexico, where there was little to stop it from continuing to rapidly intensify. The next day, that being Saturday the 28th, Ida was struggling to intensify. But it was clear that with nothing but warm waters and low shear it Ida's path, rapid intensification was just waiting to happen. Shortly after I went to sleep that night, Ida rapidly intensified into a category 4. Sunday, August 29th, was the 16 year anniversary of a storm no one needs to be reminded about, and southeastern Louisiana was preparing for yet another hurricane. Ida made landfall just before noon local time as the strongest hurricane is Louisiana's history. 3 days later, on Wednesday, September 1st, we all thought Ida's horror was over. But we were wrong. As Ida's remnants moved into the northeast, they unleashed catastrophic flash flooding and very strong tornadoes in the northeast. Over 50 people died in the northeast alone, a reminder to us all that an inland tropical cyclone can dangerous well after it weakens below hurricane status. Ida was truly a historic storm and one that will not be forgotten. I hope that recovery is going well for everyone that was affected. - Tags: #Scratchmaster295 #TropicalCyclone #Hurricane #HurricaneIda #Meteorology
