Isaias becomes first hurricane of 2026; Gulf Coast landfall expected Friday night
Tropical storm warning runs to the Jefferson-Plaquemines line; coastal flood advisory for New Orleans takes effect Friday morning with heavy rain and dangerous surf ahead.
NEW ORLEANS: Hurricane Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, and it is bearing down on the northern Gulf Coast with landfall expected Friday night or Saturday. New Orleans sits near the western edge of the warning areas, with tropical-storm-force winds, heavy rain and coastal flooding in the forecast.
Isaias was centered in the Gulf more than 400 miles south-southwest of New Orleans on Thursday morning, moving east-northeast. Forecasters expect it to strengthen to at least Category 2 in the central Gulf by Thursday night, though increasing wind shear should bring it down to a Category 1, or possibly still a Category 2, by landfall. Forecasters cautioned that a slight drop in winds right before landfall would do little to diminish the storm’s impacts.
The National Hurricane Center has issued a tropical storm warning from the Jefferson-Plaquemines Parish line, just south of New Orleans, east to west of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, with a hurricane warning from Ocean Springs to the Bay-Gulf County line in Florida. A storm surge warning runs from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Steinhatchee, Florida.
For Louisiana, the threats arrive Friday. Wind speeds will pick up across southeast Louisiana by Friday morning, with tropical-storm-force winds possible across the New Orleans metro and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Damaging winds and power outages, which could last for hours or multiple days, are most likely from extreme southeast Louisiana through southern Mississippi to the Florida Panhandle. New Orleans is under a coastal flood advisory from 3 a.m. Friday to 7 p.m. Saturday.
Rainfall will be the most widespread hazard. Forecasters expect 3 to 7 inches across the Gulf Coast from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, with isolated totals up to 10 inches, and heavy rain spreading inland across the Southeast through the weekend. The National Weather Service office in New Orleans says conditions along the coast will deteriorate through the end of the week, with gusty winds, coastal flooding, heavy rain and dangerous surf. There is also a tornado threat in the storm's outer rainbands as the center approaches Friday and again Saturday across the Southeast.
Preparations to protect life and property from damaging winds and storm surge should be completed Thursday, forecasters advise. Residents should know whether they live in an evacuation zone, prepare for power outages lasting at least several hours, and never drive through flooded roads.
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