Isaac's Impacts And What It Means For The US

Isaac has been a storm that's been talked about for over a week now. From its infancy while crossing the Atlantic, to maturity with more strengthening to go in the Gulf of Mexico, not only will Isaac have a considerable impact where this storm makes landfall, but everyone in the US will feel some backlash.

Though the center of Isaac moved well west of Florida, its outer rain bands produced tremendous flooding along the I-95 corridor, plus spawning several small tornadoes. Additionally, the Republican National Convention was pushed back a day. Now the focus shifts on the central Gulf Coast where Isaac will be more powerful.

As of the newest advisory, this is still a Tropical Storm, but may not be for long.

 

Once sustained winds reach 74mph, Isaac will be upgraded to a Hurricane. Central pressure continues to drop, now at 981mb and forward motion continues towards the northwest at 12mph. The biggest problem is that the forward speed will considerably slow down over the next 24-36 hours, which means that strengthening will continue, additional water will move towards the coast...adding concern for more storm surge, and finally chances for major inland flooding increases.

 

 

Hurricane Hunters are not only indicating that central pressure is dropping (lower pressure = a stronger storm), but an eye, 20 miles wide is beginning to appear. All indicating that a hurricane is in the works, and one that could continue to gain strength.

 

At the moment, wave action near the center of the storm is not extreme, but higher seas are likely to build.

 

 

Our in house projections indicate that waves are maxing out around 20 feet or so which will contribute to storm surge. This does not mean that storm surge will be 20 feet, but give an indication that the waters are quite violent.

Furthermore, water temperatures ahead of the center of circulation are warm.

Not only will this help to strengthen Issac, but most computer information show that wind shear will be low over this area. Whats interesting about wind shear (directional and speed changes with height) is that this benefits small scale storms, such as a super cells that produce tornadoes, but on the large scale, not so much. Strong wind shear can rip apart a tropical system, but with weak wind shear in this situation, Isaac should stay in form.

With all of this in consideration, this Tropical Storm, soon Hurricane will continue to move in a northwest fashion and become more violent.

Note the timeline on the right side of the projected track. This storm is going to SLOW down big time. Additionally, current thinking will have Isaac as a category 2 storm with winds gusting over 100mph. With this track, the center of the storm should be around northern Louisiana even on Thursday for the Aggies opening football game against Louisiana Tech. If you are headed towards Shreveport, keep an eye on the forecast. Yes, there is a possibility that the game could be postponed.

You might ask, why would a football game be cancelled for rain? In this situation, there could be massive flooding all across Louisiana, Mississippi and portions of Alabama. Plus, depending on the track of the storm, there will be a risk for tornadoes as well.

To add on Isaac's slow motion, not only will heavy rain persist in many location, high winds will be a concern with damage, but prolonged storm surge will erode beaches and even coastal homes.

That's not it......gas prices will likely hike up for everyone across the US.

Each dot on the image above is an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Isaac will affect many of these oil rigs and some companies, such as BP, has suspended 85% of its oil production to get their employees into a safer situation. Good move to keep people safe. This means that the price of gas will probably go up. But this is not rare, oil rigs have shut down to to tropical activity before.

Overall, this is a serious situation for the central Gulf Coast, and it will be monitored closely.

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