Gustav is now a hurricane (Cat 1) with winds of 85 mph (hurricane hunters are finding winds in excess of 100 mph right now as they fly through the storm). The track is now showing this will be a major hurricane (Cat 3 at least) by the weekend moving into the Gulf of Mexico. Most models have Gustav over the Northwest Caribbean or the SW Gulf of Mexico by Saturday/Sunday. The steering factor here will be a ridge of high pressure and how strong it is to keep Gustav on a westward track.

Later on this week, Gustav will be over extremely warm water and favorable conditions to strengthen, so rapid intensification is very possible. One of the models has this as a Cat 5 storm by the weekend. Certainly not out of the question.

I will have more throughout the day…