At 10 p.m. CDT Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said Isaias had 105 mph winds and was about 260 miles south of the Mississippi River mouth. Hurricane warnings cover the coast from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Florida Panhandle.
Hurricane Isaias strengthened to 105 mph late Thursday and was expected to approach the northern Gulf Coast as a dangerous hurricane on Friday, the National Hurricane Center said in Advisory 10. At 10 p.m. CDT, the center was near 25.4 north, 88.4 west, about 260 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving northeast at 14 mph. Minimum pressure was 969 millibars.
A hurricane warning was in effect from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay and Gulf county line in Florida. A storm-surge warning covered the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River. A tropical-storm warning extended from the Jefferson and Plaquemines parish line in Louisiana to west of Ocean Springs.
The center said maximum sustained winds had increased to near 105 mph, with higher gusts, and that Isaias could briefly become a major hurricane early Friday. Some weakening was forecast after that, but the storm was still expected to be a dangerous hurricane at landfall late Friday or early Saturday inside the warning area.
Hurricane-force winds extended up to 25 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds up to 125 miles. Yale Climate Connections reported that the storm's 40 mph gain in the 24 hours ending at 5 a.m. EDT Thursday met the definition of rapid intensification, and that models mostly kept a Category 2 peak while one model was more aggressive.
The next change in the official forecast will come from later NHC advisories. No landfall had occurred at the time of Advisory 10.
People Sentiments Negative
- The National Hurricane Center said Isaias was expected to approach the northern Gulf Coast as a dangerous hurricane on Friday.