Isaias made landfall late last night (just after 11PM) along the southern North Carolina coast near Ocean Isle Beach with maximum sustained winds of 85 MPH. It has now weakened back to tropical storm status as it continued to move over North Carolina and Virginia in the early morning hours.
Isaias is gaining forward momentum as it climbs up the mid-Atlantic states and slides into the northeast and into New England later today.
The main impacts with this storm will be the strong wind gusts since we are on the eastern side of Isaias’ projected path. Gusts could stretch into the 40-55 MPH range for a few hours this evening (starting around dinner time) and continue through at least sunset.
With gusts that high, that can bring down trees and power lines so be sure to have your flashlights and your cell phones fully charged ahead of this afternoon.
We also have a severe weather threat through tonight with an isolated tornado as the conditions are favorable for some rotating thunderstorms.
The timing for the severe thunderstorms is between 5pm to 10pm as the rain bands from Isaias swing in. These will bring embedded downpours which could create some minor flooding, along with the tornado threat around 5:30pm for central MA and around 7:30pm for Boston.
Another concern is coastal flooding, especially around high tide tonight. A Coastal Flood Advisory has been issued for the South Coast from 7PM to 11PM (while high tide is around 10PM). Some minor flooding is possible there.
Plus, a Coastal Flood Advisory for the NH seacoast and areas north along the Maine coastline from 10AM to 2AM. Some minor splashover and beach erosion is possible with the battering surf around high tide.
By early Wednesday, we’ll still have windy conditions, but the bulk of the rain will have lifted northward and we’ll see a gradual clearing of the skies through Wednesday evening.
Thursday brings less humidity and sunny skies back to the area and that continues into Friday with seasonable conditions (highs in the low 80s). This weekend brings highs into the mid to upper 80s with just a chance for a shower on the Cape on Saturday.
