{"id":459341,"date":"2026-10-07T18:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459341\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T18:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T18:48:08","slug":"whats-steering-tropical-storm-isaias-away-from-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/459341\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s steering Tropical Storm Isaias away from Texas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tropical storm and hurricane watches now cover\u00a0parts of the northern Gulf Coast<\/a> as Isaias is forecast to rapidly strengthen into the season\u2019s first hurricane before approaching the coast Friday.<\/p>\n

The National Hurricane Center<\/a> issued a hurricane watch for parts of the coast from Mississippi to the Florida Panhandle, with tropical storm watches covering nearby stretches of Louisiana and Florida. A storm surge watch also covers parts of the coast from southeastern Louisiana to western Florida.<\/p>\n

Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph Wednesday. The watches mean dangerous conditions are possible along parts of the northern Gulf Coast, though the exact impacts will vary by location.<\/p>\n

Hurricane aircraft reconnaissance data and satellite images show\u00a0Isaias becoming better organized, with thunderstorms consolidating near its center.<\/p>\n

The storm is moving over near-record warm water between 85 and 88 degrees. Those temperatures, along with a moist environment, could help fuel rapid intensification over the next day or two. Rapid intensification occurs when a storm\u2019s peak sustained winds increase by at least 35 mph in 24 hours.<\/p>\n

The hurricane center expects Isaias to become a hurricane<\/a> Thursday and says it could be a strong hurricane before reaching the coast.<\/p>\n

Tropical systems are steered by larger weather patterns<\/a> around them. A dip in the jet stream over the northwestern Gulf Coast is expected to deepen as high pressure east of Florida builds westward. Together, those features should turn Isaias north and then northeast toward the northern Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

The exact track could still shift over the next 24 to 48 hours, but the current steering pattern favors a path toward the central or eastern Gulf Coast rather than Texas. No tropical storm or hurricane watches have been issued for the Texas coast, and no direct hazards are expected in Houston.\u00a0Isaias could bring rougher seas and gustier winds to the waters off the upper Texas coast, where a small craft advisory is in effect from Thursday morning through Friday morning.<\/p>\n

Storm surge could be one of the most serious threats along the northern Gulf Coast. The broad, shallow shelf in this part of the Gulf can allow wind-driven water to build as it moves toward shore, and bays can funnel that water inland.<\/p>\n

Around Mobile, Ala., storm surge could reach 5 to 7 feet above ground in Mobile Bay. Similar levels are possible along parts of the coast from Mississippi to the Florida Panhandle if the surge coincides with high tide.<\/p>\n

The heaviest rainfall is expected from coastal Mississippi toward Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, where totals could reach 4 to 6 inches, with locally higher amounts. Southeastern Louisiana could see 1 to 2 inches inland, with higher totals near the coast.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tropical storm and hurricane watches now cover\u00a0parts of the northern Gulf Coast as Isaias is forecast to rapidly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-459341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}