With Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft confirming maximum sustained winds reaching 75 mph, Isaias has officially become the first Atlantic hurricane of the year. This development happened rather fast, as Isaias became a tropical storm only 18 hours earlier. During this timeframe, the forecast cone shifted east a fair amount. This is good news for southeast Louisiana, as it means the risk of local impacts is decreasing.
Full Discussion: Hurricane Isaias is growing stronger and better organized as it continues to move east-northeast. Large-scale weather patterns are expected to turn the storm northward and speed it up, bringing a larger, faster-moving Isaias toward the northern Gulf Coast by Friday afternoon and evening. Thanks to very warm ocean waters, high moisture, and favorable upper-level winds, the storm could strengthen quickly over the next day or two, though increasing wind shear near landfall might slow its winds down slightly before it hits the coast.
Local Impacts: At this time, impacts for the Capital Area are continuing to trend lower and lower. A direct impact is highly unlikely at this point. The most-likely scenario is some increased rain chances Friday and Saturday with breezy conditions at times. Though there is still some wiggle room in the track, the recent trend has been to nudge Isaias' track farther east. This moves the zone of major impacts away from Louisiana and more toward the Florida Panhandle.
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