Update: Monday Morning Isaac Track Shows Storm Impacting Arkansas
By: KARK 4 News and CNN
Updated: August 27, 2012
The 5am track from the National Hurricane Center has the storm moving over Arkansas Thursday and Friday of this week. If that holds true, severe weather and soaking rains are likely for the Natural State.
Thousands in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were being told early Monday to leave their Gulf Coast homes ahead of the arrival of Tropical Storm Isaac as forecasters warned it was gaining strength as it followed the same path Hurricane Katrina took seven years earlier. A hurricane warning was issued for the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico, from Morgan City, Louisiana, east to Destin, Florida, the National Hurricane Center said.
On Monday morning, KARK Meteorologist Greg Dee was in Dothan, Alabama to assist sister station WDHN with potential hurricane coverage. As models shift the system west, Dee is preparing to possibly meet up with the storm as it makes landfall along the coast or head back to Arkansas if Isaac appears to pose a threat to the Natural State.
On his Facebook page Sunday evening, Meteorologist Darby Bybee went through a serious of scenarios related to Isaac and its impact on the coast. You can watch that report by clicking here.
The tropical storm was expected to make landfall late Tuesday or Wednesday -- the anniversary of Katrina's landfall -- as a Category 1 hurricane, with winds of at least 74 mph.
Isaac's strength was holding steady early Monday as it moved at 14 mph through the warm Gulf waters, about 180 miles southwest of Fort Myers, Florida, forecasters said. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 65 mph, according to a hurricane center advisory.
It appeared early Monday that the storm's ferocity would mostly bypass Florida's west coast and the Republican National Convention in Tampa, where the schedule was pushed back a day by organizers over concerns about the storm.
Related Links: