The east coast of Florida is on standby for the effects of now Category 1 Hurricane Isaias. The strengthening storm threatens to bring large amounts of rain and gusty winds throughout weekend.
The National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. advisory shows the storm 340 miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas with the potential of becoming a category 2 Hurricane.
At 800 AM EDT (1200 UTC), the center of Hurricane Isaias was located
by NOAA and Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft near
latitude 21.3 North, longitude 73.9 West. Isaias is moving toward
the northwest near 17 mph (28 km/h), and a generally northwestward
motion with some decrease in forward speed is expected for the next
couple of days followed by a turn toward the north-northwest. On
the forecast track, the center of Isaias will move near or over the
Southeastern Bahamas today. Isaias is forecast to be near the
Central Bahamas tonight, and move near or over the Northwestern
Bahamas and be near or east of the Florida peninsula on Saturday and
Sunday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 80 mph (130 km/h) with higher
gusts. Some strengthening is possible today, and Isaias is expected
to remain a hurricane for the next few days.
Lake Okeechobee and the southeastern coast of Florida, from Ocean Reef to Sebastian Inlet are under a tropical storm watch. This includes Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Tropical storm conditions, such as heavy rains and isolated flooding, are possible over the weekend.
Photo credit: NOAA
The 8 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm has winds of 80 miles per hour as it sits 340 miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas and is moving northwest at 17 miles per hour.