Tropical Storm Issac entering the Gulf

Tropical Storm Issac left 8 dead as it crossed Haiti and drenched Havana and the Florida Keys over the weekend. Damage in the keys has been minimal but now Issac is entering into the warm Gulf waters and is expected to grow to hurricane strength over the next 24 hours.

The current track is sending Issac on a path towards New Orleans with SE Louisiana, Mississippi and Possibly Alabama getting the brunt of the storm.

Courtesy of Weather Underground

Isaac crossing Gulf with New Orleans in crosshairs (Associated Press)

Isaac blew past the Florida Keys and was rolling northwestward over the open Gulf of Mexico on Monday. The National Hurricane Center predicted it would grow to a Category 1 hurricane over the warm water and possibly hit late Tuesday somewhere along a roughly 300-mile stretch from the bayous southwest of New Orleans to the Florida Panhandle.

That would be one day shy of seven years after Katrina struck catastrophically in 2005, although Katrina was a much stronger Category 5 storm with winds over 157 miles per hour. Isaac is expected to have top winds of around 90 mph when it hits land.

The size of the warning area and the storm's wide bands of rain and wind prompted emergency declarations in four states, and hurricane-tested residents were boarding up homes, sticking up on food and water or getting ready to evacuate.

Issac is expected to grow to a Category 1 Hurricane before making landfall, however the storm's predicted track has been steadily moving west throughout the weekend. Issac was initially forecast to come ashore in Florida and that forecast has now shifted solidly into Louisiana with S. E. Texas being mentioned as potentially feling some effects from Issac.

Spaghetti Models are showing that the majority of computer models are converging on Louisiana and continue tp move westward. This graphic is updated regularly, so please check back thoughout the day to stay up to date with the storm's progress.

 

Courtesy: South Florida Water Management District