The First Alert Weather team continues to track Tropical Storm Isaac. As of the 4pm update from the National Hurricane Center, Isaac remains a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 60mph as the center of Isaac passes just south of Key West, FL. Inland Tropical Storm Warnings are now in effect locally for Amite, Pike, Walthall and Wilkinson Counties. This means tropical storm conditions are expected in the next 36 hours.
There remain a lot of questions on where Isaac will make landfall on the Gulf coast, but somewhere along the Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama coastlines appears to be most likely.
The newest official track from the National Hurricane Center, forecasts the center of what will likely be Hurricane Isaac to make landfall near Bay St. Louis Wednesday morning, then weaken to a tropical depression as it moves over the Jackson Metro area on Thursday. Keep in mind large errors are possible in the forecast track for the Wednesday-Thurday timeframe. Due to large differences among what are typically reliable computer models, there is even more uncertainty with Isaac than what we would normally have.
Hurricane WARNINGS are now posted from east of Morgan City, LA to Destin, FL. This includes the Mississippi coast as well as the New Orleans area.
The official forecast is for Isaac to make landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with winds around 100mph, but the storm may be stronger.
Now is the time for residents of Mississippi to prepare to be impacted by the storm.
Depending on where Isaac makes landfall, our weather may be warm and dry, or it could be windy and wet. Keep in mind that tropical systems take up a lot of real estate, so even if the center does not move over Mississippi, impacts can be felt hundreds of miles away. Also, remember areas to the right of the storm track are on the stronger side of the system, where the heaviest rains, strongest winds and highest tornado risk will be.
The next update from the National Hurricane Center will come around 7PM, with a new forecast track being issued at 10PM tonight.
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