The First Alert Weather team continues to track Tropical Storm Isaac. As of the 10pm update from the National Hurricane Center, Isaac remains a strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 65mph. 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 in southeast Louisiana late Tuesday or early Wednesday, then track into southwest Mississippi as a strong tropical storm.
Keep in mind large errors are possible in the forecast track for the Tuesday-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.
It does continue to appear more likely that we will receive some impact from Isaac, even if the center of the storm passes west of our area. Keep in mind that Isaac is fairly large, so even if the center does not move over Mississippi, impacts will 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 full update from the National Hurricane Center will be at 4am Monday.
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