Just getting back home and finally getting a good look at Ian. IR doesn't always tell the story, but tonight we see numerous meaningful clues that after developing a structure earlier in the day, Ian is finally taking advantage of an increasingly favorable environment.
From just a few hours ago, it was evident that Ian was starting to pick up the pace of organization with the development of spiral bands and hints of an inner core.
With IR, we see multiple vortical towers trying to wrap around that core. The very intense convection itself probably has this near hurricane force if not already there.
Finally, I like taking a look at the Weathernerds WV to make sense of whats happening under the cloud tops.
Much like the IR, you see how in recent hours the towers have gone up and tried wrapping around a developing core. I haven't had a chance to dive deep into long term track and impacts, but in the last few hours Ian has certainly put "meat on the bones" so to speak. This leads to the eye-like feature (we don't quite know until confirmed by recon) that @MattPetrulli posted earlier.
Nothing earth shattering, but I expect recon to find Ian a hurricane tonight. Once there is a fully developed inner core, this one should be able to take off intensity wise. Dry air may have hindered the convective activity earlier, but this is a delayed but not denied situation IMO.