At 10 a.m. CDT on Wednesday the National Hurricane Center placed Tropical Storm Isaias near 22.4 north, 93.6 west with 45 mph winds and said it could strengthen into a strong hurricane before the northern Gulf Coast on Friday. A storm-surge watch and a hurricane watch were in effect.
Tropical Storm Isaias was better organized on Wednesday morning, with a large area of deep convection near and northeast of the center, the National Hurricane Center said in its 10 a.m. CDT discussion.
The center was near latitude 22.4 north, longitude 93.6 west, with maximum sustained winds of 40 knots, about 45 mph. The center's forecast track took the storm toward the northern Gulf Coast, and the agency said Isaias was expected to strengthen into a strong hurricane before approaching that coast on Friday.
A storm-surge watch covered the coast from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Yankeetown, Florida. A hurricane watch ran from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, Florida. The center said residents in the surge-watch area should follow local officials and evacuate if told to do so, and that damaging winds could bring long power outages in parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and Mississippi.
Heavy rain was forecast for the central US Gulf Coast and much of the Southeast from Friday into the weekend, with flash and urban flooding possible, and isolated river flooding. The discussion also said gusty winds and heavy rain were possible on the western Yucatan Peninsula.
NBC Miami reported that Governor Ron DeSantis had signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency for 25 Florida counties while the system was still Tropical Depression Nine. Later local updates cited higher wind speeds than the 10 a.m. advisory used here. Those later figures are not in the National Hurricane Center discussion cited above.