With only weeks to go before the end of the 2009 hurricane season, Tropical Storm Ida formed off the coast of Nicaragua, making landfall as a hurricane in the morning hours of November 5. The storm lost significant strength as it moved through Nicaragua and Honduras, only to reemerge in the Caribbean a day later, impacting El Salvador and Mexico. Ida gained strength, becoming a Category 2 storm with winds peaking at 105 miles per hour in the Gulf of Mexico. The path for Ida at this point was clearly toward the Gulf Coast of the US, with a projected landfall somewhere between Louisiana and the Florida panhandle. As Ida's path became more focused, Amateur Radio operators and ARES® groups concentrated on increasing their level of readiness should there be a need to respond.
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