Isaias Becomes First Atlantic Hurricane of 2026

Isaias became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season on Wednesday, strengthening rapidly in the Gulf and heading for a Friday landfall on the US northern Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center says.

Tropical Depression Nine formed Tuesday evening and became Tropical Storm Isaias early Wednesday. It reached hurricane strength in less than 20 hours. It is the ninth named storm of the season, and as of 11:30pm ET Wednesday had 75 mph winds and was about 460 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

Forecasters expect Isaias to reach about 110 mph, a strong Category 2, on Friday afternoon. It could make landfall as a Category 1 or 2 hurricane before weakening quickly inland.

“We are expecting multiple dangerous, life-threatening impacts along portions of the northern Gulf coast on Friday,” said NHC Director Mike Brennan.

The greatest storm surge concern is from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to Indian Pass, Florida, where Brennan said 5 to 7 feet of inundation above ground level is possible, likely near and to the right of where the storm crosses the coast.

A storm surge watch covers the mouth of the Mississippi River to Yankeetown, Florida. A hurricane watch covers Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Indian Pass. Tropical storm watches are in place from the Jefferson-Plaquemines Parish line in Louisiana to west of Bay St. Louis, and from east of Indian Pass to the Aucilla River in Florida.

Shell and Chevron are each shutting down four Gulf production sites and evacuating workers. MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa is receiving aircraft evacuating from Tyndall Air Force Base. The shutdowns come as the Iran war has pushed US gasoline to an average of $4.34 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.

Forecasters say the storm will bring heavy rain to the Carolinas from Saturday night through Sunday night.