According to the water vapor loop, it looks like traffic has come to a screaching halt. The ULL over Bermuda hasn't budged, the trough is VERY slowly digging into the upper Gulf coast, but the ridge is still building overtop in North Dakota. The ULL over Memphis is moving very slowly. It's almost like the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. It is no surprse that the trough in the central part of the country is taking on a negative tilt.
For the benefit of the new people, I'll explain a couple of things. First, ULL = upper level low. They are responsible for the breaking down of ridges that have been causing the wnw motion, and act to "draw" up tropical systems. Having said that, this is a monster to try to "draw".
A negative tilt trough is one that actually wraps the flow around it, so you get some NW motion over top the ULL. These tend to be slower moving systems, that can close off, and get stuck, or they can open up and lift out. This is forecast to open up, and within 4 days, the ULL is expected to be centered over Pa., which is quite a while to move that distance. The strongest of troughs go negative tilt, and if one is going to turn Ivan, it had better be a strong one, hence the expectations to turn the storm NW, then North.
I hope I explained that well, and accurately.