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| Hurricane Isaias approaching the far western Florida panhandle last Friday afternoon. |
As of 5 p.m., the hurricane was starting to weaken, as expected. Strong upper level winds from the southwest are beginning to stretch the hurricane apart.
Because of this, the most intense part of the storm will be the northern eye wall, just before the center of the storm comes ashore near Pensacola, Florida around 8 pm.
Top winds were still at 115 mph at 5 p.m. today. Although Isaias will continue to slowly weaken as it approaches shore in the next few hours.
But it won't have time to fall apart. The National Hurricane Center says it will be an unusual gusty hurricane when it hits.
Storm surges could reach nine feet, so they will see a lot of damage along parts of the Gulf Coast
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 mph from the center, so it won't be a huge area hit by the worst winds.
Flood watches were in effect through large swaths of the Southeast. Tornadoes are also a good possibility in the Southeast, too.
As the storm approached, roads last night like Interstate 10 in southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle were gridlocked as people fled the then-strengthening hurricane. Video showed people sitting for hours at a standstill as car crashes blocked I-10 westbound in Baldwin County, Alabama.
By evening, it was already stormy in the western Florida Panhandle. Live video from Navarre Beach, Florida at 5:45 p.m. showed a burgeoning storm surge and increasing winds.
Isaias will spread strong winds all the way north through Tennessees and western North Carolina overnight and part of Sunday.
The remnants of Isaias will be in the central Appalachians during the day Sunday. For us in Vermont, it will throw rain our way. It looks like southern Vermont could get a half inch of rain, give or take, with very little in the far north.
