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Tropical Storm Warning Issued For South Florida’s East Coast

A tropical storm warning is in effect for South Florida from Ocean Reef to Sebastian Inlet as of 11 am on Thursday.  There is also a hurricane watch north of Deerfield Beach to the Volusia-Brevard county line.

At 11 am Friday, Hurricane Isaias was located near 21.7 North, 74.5 West, about 295 miles southeast of Nassau, Bahamas.  Maximum sustained winds were 75 miles per hour, and some strengthening is likely.  Isaias was moving northwest at 16 miles per hour.

Isaias will move into the Bahamas on Friday.  Tropical storm-force gusts could occur in portions of South Florida during the early morning hours of Saturday and can be expected to taper off on Sunday morning..

Here are the likely impacts for South Florida.  Miami-Dade and southern Broward can expect tropical storm force gusts and heavy rain on Saturday into Sunday morning, with localized flooding possible.  More prolonged periods of tropical storm-force winds are possible in central and northern Broward, along with heavy rains and localized flooding.  Isaias could come close enough to the Palm Beach County coast to make prolonged tropical storm-force winds and hurricane gusts more likely, along with heavy rain.

We’ll need to monitor the progress of Isaias closely.

Friday will be the day to secure or remove any outdoor objects that could become projectiles in strong winds.  Be ready for possible power outages, especially in more northern portions of the east coast metro area.

Donna Thomas has studied hurricanes for two decades. She holds a PhD in history when her experience with Hurricane Andrew ultimately led her to earn a degree in broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University. Donna spent 15 years at WFOR-TV (CBS4 in Miami-Fort Lauderdale), where she worked as a weather producer with hurricane experts Bryan Norcross and David Bernard. She also produced hurricane specials and weather-related features and news coverage, as well as serving as pool TV producer at the National Hurricane Center during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Donna also served as a researcher on NOAA's Atlantic Hurricane Database Reanalysis Project. Donna specializes in Florida's hurricane history.