Hurricane Isaias is expected to come close enough to Florida that hurricane warnings have been posted for parts of the state’s east coast. Isaias became a hurricane early Friday morning near the Turks and Caicos Islands, becoming the second Atlantic hurricane of the season.
Hurricane Isaias is moving across the Bahamas today and tomorrow and will approach Florida this weekend.
In Florida, a hurricane warning is now in place for areas from Boca Raton to the Volusia-Brevard County line. Tropical storm warnings are in effect for north of Ocean Reef northward to Sebastian Inlet, as well as Lake Okeechobee and parts of central Florida, including Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties.
Storm surge watches are also now in place for parts of Florida’s east coast.
Spaghetti model map for Hurricane Isaias.
The spaghetti models, a suite of computer forecast models overlayed on a map, show the storm is likely to turn north as it approaches Florida. Much of the East Coast will likely see impacts from Isaias, since rain and wind can extend far from the storm’s center.
For now, the center of the forecast cone of uncertainty takes Isaias just east of Florida this weekend, though only a slight deviation of the current track could lead to a Florida landfall from Isaias this weekend. The Carolinas should see impacts early next week.
Hurricane Isaias’s forecast track.
Isaias has already brought heavy rainfall and gusty winds to the Bahamas, Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. At least five inches of rain fell in San Juan, Puerto Rico’s capital and largest city on Wednesday and Thursday.
Exact Track Still Uncertain
Isaias has been on a steady west-northwestward to northwestward track, but that will change through the next couple of days.
“There will be a dip in the jet stream moving into the southeastern U.S. which will help pull Isaias northward,” Spectrum News meteorologist Brian McClure said. “That is why the latest trends are for Isaias to drift by just east of Florida.”
Confidence on the exact track still remains uncertain. Even if the center of the storm stays just offshore, Florida and the rest of the southeastern U.S. should closely monitor this system.
Impacts for mid-Atlantic and Northeast are also possible on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.
Isaias officially became the ninth-named storm of the Atlantic season and the earliest I-named storm on record. The previous record for the earliest ninth storm of the season was Irene, which formed on August 7, 2005.
It’s also the second hurricane of a busy to-date 2020 Atlantic season.
If you’re wondering how exactly Isaias is pronounced, here’s a detailed guide on how to properly say it (along with all the other 2020 Atlantic storms. In short, Isaias pronounced over four syllables: ees-ah-EE-ahs.
Keep checking in for the latest updates.
