HURRICANE ISAIAS STAYS EAST OF OUR AREA THIS WEEKEND; SUNNY FRIDAY… Isaias surprised just about everyone late last night in quickly becoming the second hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season. While the official forecast called for hurricane intensity becoming likely on Saturday, the system wasted no time getting its act together as it moved north of Hispaniola. The good news for our local area in south Alabama and northwest Florida is that no direct local impacts are expected due to Hurricane Isaias. The system will almost certainly pass far to our east. Unfortunately, for our friends along the Atlantic coast of Florida, The Bahamas, and the Carolinas, Isaias is poised to bring at least some type of impact this weekend into early next week. Let’s look at all of your forecast details…
SUNSHINE TODAY & SATURDAY; LOW RAIN CHANCES… Locally on this Friday, we have plenty of sunshine in store with low rain chances. There could be a rogue storm or two around today, but I expect vast majority of us to remain dry and hot. High temperatures will be in the mid-90s. Heat index values could easily hit or briefly top 100 degrees this afternoon into the early evening. Saturday will essentially be a carbon copy repeat of today with only a handful of showers and thunderstorms across the region. Highs will again be in the mid-90s. There will be plenty of sunshine at local beaches this weekend for folks looking to get out and enjoy the water/sand.
SHOWERS & STORMS RETURN SUNDAY… Rain chances will rise on Sunday into Monday. We’ll call it a 40-50% chance of storms each day with high temps in the low-90s. Widespread severe weather is not in store, but some of the storms could feature loud thunder, heavy rain, and gusty winds in the strongest of the storms. Note that these increased rain chances are due to pop-up storms and NOT associated with Hurricane Isaias.
ISAIAS IS NOW A HURRICANE MOVING THROUGH THE BAHAMAS… A U.S. Air Force “Hurricane Hunter” recon crew found hurricane-force winds near the center of Isaias last evening, prompting the National Hurricane Center (NHC) to issue a special advisory at 11PM CDT to upgrade Isaias to a hurricane. Maximum sustained winds have increased to 80 mph. A Hurricane Warning is now in effect for all islands/locations in The Bahamas.
TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR SOUTH FLORIDA… A Tropical Storm Watch continues for the east (Atlantic) coast of Florida from Ocean Reef to Sebastian Inlet. That basically is from Vero Beach southward to Homestead, including Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, and surrounding areas. I expect these areas to go under a Tropical Storm Warning and perhaps a Hurricane Watch later today.
ISAIAS TO MOVE NORTH, THEN NORTHEAST; COULD BE ISSUE FOR CAROLINAS… Basically everyone from Miami, FL northward to Maine should keep a close watch on Hurricane Isaias as the system looks to parallel or be very near the U.S. Atlantic coastline over the next few days. Details are still a bit fuzzy as to just how close the center of circulation will be to specific areas, but the general idea is certainly good that Isaias will be just offshore, near the coastline, or near coastal areas of the Eastern Seaboard in the days ahead. Right now, the most likely scenario is that the center of Isaias will remain off the east coast of Florida in the Atlantic with a potential landfall more likely in North Carolina. There also could be another landfall in the Northeast, perhaps near Cape Cod. The big takeaway here is that impacts from Hurricane Isaias will be possible along the East Coast of the U.S. in the days ahead. A Tropical Storm Watch and/or a Hurricane Watch will be inevitably be required for more sections of the East Coast this weekend into early next week.
NO DIRECT IMPACTS FROM ISAIAS IN LOCAL AREA… Hurricane Isaias will almost certainly remain WELL to our east with no direct impacts expected in south Alabama and northwest Florida. Something monumental would have to shift in the forecast for ANY impacts to happen anywhere close by, and that is just not expected to happen. A big trough in the jet stream moving eastward across the U.S. will move over our area and basically act as somewhat of a repellent from Isaias this weekend. It is reasonable at this point to give you an “all clear” from Hurricane Isaias if you’re in south Alabama or northwest Florida.
I will have updates as needed this weekend concerning Hurricane Isaias in the RedZone Weather app.
APP… If you haven’t already, be sure to download the free RedZone Weather app to keep up with all the latest information on the world of weather in south Alabama and northwest Florida. redzoneweather.com/app is the link for the free download. Once you have the app downloaded to your iOS or Android device, be sure to visit the Alerts tab (lower right corner) and tap the large, yellow Alert Settings button to customize the alerts you would like to receive straight from me.
See all the details in your Friday #rzw forecast video… Have a great evening!
