Category 3 Hurricane Isaias expected to make landfall on northern Gulf Coast
The National Hurricane Center said life-threatening storm surge and devastating winds were likely along the Alabama and Florida Panhandle coasts on Friday evening.
AI illustrationHurricane Isaias, a category 3 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, was expected to make landfall within the warning area along the U.S. northern Gulf Coast on Friday evening, the National Hurricane Center said in an advisory issued on Friday, October 9. The center said life-threatening storm surge and devastating winds were likely along the coasts of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
At the time of the advisory, the center of the hurricane was about 195 miles (310 km) south of Pensacola, Florida, moving north-northeast near 16 mph (26 km/h). Maximum sustained winds were near 120 mph (195 km/h) with higher gusts, and the estimated minimum central pressure was 959 mb. The forecasters said the storm's center was expected to reach the coast of the western Florida Panhandle that evening, with a turn to the north on Saturday.
Some fluctuations in strength are possible, but Isaias is expected to be at or near major hurricane strength at landfall, according to the advisory. Weakening is expected to begin after the storm moves inland, and it is likely to become post-tropical by late Saturday. Hurricane-force winds reach outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from the center, and tropical-storm-force winds up to 205 miles (335 km).
A Hurricane Warning covers the coast from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County Line in Florida, and a Storm Surge Warning runs from the Mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River. If the peak surge arrives at high tide, water could reach 6-9 ft above ground somewhere between the Alabama/Florida border and Grayton Beach, Florida, and 4-7 ft from Grayton Beach to Indian Pass, the center said.
Hurricane-force winds are expected to spread as far as 100 miles inland into southern Alabama. Through the weekend, Isaias is expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain to southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend, and southwest Georgia, with localized totals up to 15 inches possible. Flash and urban flooding is possible across the region, and river flooding is also expected, some of which could be significant.
The center also warned of a tornado risk in coastal areas of Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia, and of swells likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip currents along the Gulf Coast.