Short Range Forecast Discussion NWS Weather Prediction Center College Park MD 400 PM EDT Sat Aug 28 2021 Valid 00Z Sun Aug 29 2021 - 00Z Tue Aug 31 2021 ...Hurricane Ida is forecast to intensify rapidly to major hurricane strength before making landfall on the Louisiana coast during the day on Sunday... ...Strong to severe thunderstorms possible across the northern Plains to the upper Midwest tonight ahead of a developing low pressure system... ...Heat persisting through the weekend over much of the Desert Southwest, parts of the Midwest and the Carolinas... Hurricane Ida is becoming a formidable force of nature forecast to take aim at the Louisiana on Sunday. The hurricane is currently expanding in size while strengthening over the anomalously warm waters of the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Ida is forecast to intensify rapidly to major hurricane strength before making landfall on the Louisiana coast during the day on Sunday. Squall and heavy downpours associated with the outer rainbands of Ida are expected to reach southern Louisiana tonight along with increasingly strong and gusty winds. Torrential rain driven by destructive hurricane-force winds can be expected to lash the Louisiana coast as the eye of the hurricane makes landfall on Sunday. The front extending from the northern Mid-Atlantic westward to the Great Lakes then into the Great Basin has a wave of low pressure over South-Central Canada will pull the front northward into Canada on Sunday. On Monday, the trailing front will extend from the Lower Great Lakes westward to another wave of low pressure over the Northern High Plains. The system will produce showers and thunderstorms along and near the boundary from the Northern High Plains to the Great Lakes, as some of the storms will be very energetic. As a result, the SPC has issued an Enhanced Risk of severe thunderstorms over the Upper Mississippi Valley through Sunday morning. The hazards associated with these thunderstorms are frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a few tornadoes. There is a 10% or greater probability of 65 knots or greater wind gusts over parts of the Upper Mississippi Valley. Additionally, the WPC has issued a Slight Risk of excessive rainfall with these thunderstorms. The associated heavy rain will create mainly localized areas of flash flooding, with urban areas, roads, and small streams the most vulnerable through Sunday morning. The severe thunderstorm threat decreases to a marginal threat on Sunday into Monday. The excessive rainfall threat also diminishes over the Upper Midwest on Sunday into Monday morning. Over the Gulf Coast, tropical moisture and upper-level impulses will produce showers and thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast into the Southeast on Saturday. Elsewhere, upper-level impulses and diurnal heating will produce showers and thunderstorms over parts of the Southwest into the Southern High Plains from the late afternoon into the late evening on Saturday and Sunday. Additionally, heat will also produce hazards. Heat Advisories are posted over parts of the Great Lakes and the Middle Mississippi Valley, where high temperatures are forecast in the upper 80s to low 90s. Moreover, many areas of the Midwest will have the possibility of record high minimum temperatures on Saturday and Sunday morning. In the Southwest, highs in the 110s are expected on Saturday, and an Excessive Heat Warning remains in effect for the area through Saturday evening. Kong/Ziegenfelder Graphics available at www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx_ndfd.php