Isaias continues a slow churn off of Florida’s east coast Sunday as a tropical storm, with wind gusts nearing hurricane strength.
As some Florida warnings from the National Hurricane Center are being discontinued, other portions of the eastern U.S. seaboard are preparing for Isaias.
The 5 p.m. advisory from the Center had the storm located about 65 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral.
Maximum sustained winds were at 65 miles per hour, although gusts were reaching hurricane strength of 70 mph, according to reports from an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft and radar. Some fluctuations in strength is expected during the next 48 hours.
Earlier Sunday, outer bands of the storm hit some areas in south Florida, causing power outages.
“To date we’ve worked to restore power to nearly 20,000 customers as of about 9 a.m. this morning,” Florida Power and Light spokesperson Dave Reuter said in a Sunday news conference. “We’re actively working to restore a small number of customers affected in Broward, Miami-Dade, and in the Naples area and we’ll be returning to normal operations in those areas soon.”
Crews from 20 different states were deployed to Florida to help FPL restore power to customers for a worst case scenario, said Reuter. Most of the crews have set up at a staging area at the Daytona Speedway in Central Florida.
An earlier tropical storm warning has been discontinued south of Sebastian Inlet, just north of Vero Beach.
A tropical storm warning is now in effect from Sebastian Inlet to Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, while a tropical storm watch is in effect from Ocracoke Inlet to Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
A hurricane watch is in effect for South Santee River, South Carolina, to Surf City, North Carolina.
Storm surge watches and warnings are in effect for the coasts of South Carolina and North Carolina.
As of 5 p.m. Sunday, Isaias continues moving to the north-northwest at 9 mph.
Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 115 miles from the center of Isaisas. A 49 mph gust was reported Sunday afternoon at Sebastian Inlet.
The waters along Florida’s Gulf Coast also weere impacted Sunday. A small craft advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. from Bonita Beach to Tarpon Springs. Northerly wind speeds up to 20 knots will create seas two to four feet and hazardous boating conditions for small craft operators.
The center of Isaias will pass just to the east of the east coast of Florida through Sunday night. Rain is estimated along the coast at one to three inches, with some isolated areas reaching four inches.
The storm is moving toward the north-northwest, with a turn toward the north and the north-northeast Monday and Tuesday. The storm is also expected to pick up forward speed with the change in direction.
The center of Isaias will move offshore of the coast of Georgia and southern South Carolina on Monday, move inland over eastern North Carolina Monday night, and move along the coast of the mid-Atlantic states on Tuesday. Some slow weakening is possible after the storm makes landfall in the Carolinas.
Additional information courtesy Daniel Rivero at WLRN
