The National Hurricane Center, the federal office that tracks Atlantic storms, says Hurricane Isaias spent the night bulking up over the Gulf. As of this morning it is a Category 2 hurricane with 110 mph winds, and forecasters expect it to briefly reach Category 3 strength today, touching 120 mph, before weakening just ahead of landfall.
Landfall is expected late tonight or early Saturday, somewhere between Mobile, Alabama and Destin, Florida. The hurricane center has it coming ashore as a dangerous high end Category 2 with winds near 100 mph. The bigger threat is water: storm surge up to 7 feet is forecast along nearly 300 miles of coastline, from Ocean Springs, Mississippi to Indian Pass, Florida.
Florida has ordered mandatory evacuations in parts of the Panhandle, and emergency declarations are in effect in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. Gov. Ron DeSantis told residents the state is preparing for the storm to arrive as a Category 3. Hurricane and storm surge warnings now stretch across more than 600 miles of coastline.
Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 season, and the latest forming first hurricane in more than a century, tying a record set in 1905. It is also forecast to be the first hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Milton, exactly two years ago today.