It should be no surprise that we are still talking about the tropics and hurricane season. The obnoxious heatwave that gripped Louisiana and much of the country heated up the water in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean to the point that it felt like bath water.
As of the 7 AM Advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Lake Charles, this monster storm is packing 150 mph winds with gusts of 165 mph. That's only 7 mph short of Ida having Category 5 intensity.