Hurricane Ike is going to do some serious damage to the southern Bahamas, and then
it will cross over Cuba, and into the Gulf of Mexico.
See the streaky clouds in the northeastern edge of the storm (upper right area of the above image)? Those are what we called "battle pennants" when I was growing up on the Gulf Coast. I have been underneath those clouds before, more than once, and it is a creepy thing. They look like giant spokes in a wheel as they approach overhead, and their trailing edge points toward the heart of the storm.
Ike is a very well-defined system, as you can see in the image. It is the strongest storm of the season, and it may still be a major hurricane when it crosses the Gulf of Mexico and makes landfall in the U.S.
If Ike stays to the northern end of its projected path, it will trash the Florida Keys, major bummer. If it stays farther south, it may cross over portions of southern Cuba, and not lose as much strength as if it crosses directly over the island from east to west.
Here's the latest projected path:
