Tropical Storm Forms In Caribbean

HOUSTON -- Tropical storm Ida has formed in the southwest Caribbean, quickly adding muscle and prompting storm warnings for the coast of Nicaragua and two Colombian islands.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the ninth tropical storm of the season took shape Wednesday afternoon. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 60 mph.

The storm's center is about 75 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua. It is moving toward the northwest near 8 mph.

Storm warnings were in effect for the eastern coast of Nicaragua and the Colombian islands of San Andres and Providencia.

"It's already affecting central America. It will be interesting to see if it lasts. There's a lot of mountainous area there, and if it does, it may be an issue for the Gulf of Mexico eventually," KPRC Local 2 chief meteorologist Frank Billingsley said. "There are big thunderstorms with this system.

Billingsley said that once Ida makes landfall early Thursday, it will go from a storm to a depression.

"It may emerge back as a storm sometime on Monday or Sunday," Billingsley said. "The forecast cone is 700 miles across, so where this ends up is anybody's ballgame. It will have to battle the mountains of Nicaragua and Honduras before it goes anywhere."

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