Well, it’s here. Hurricane Isaias is on the doorstep of the Florida Panhandle, and will make landfall this afternoon to early evening.

Presently, Isaias is a Category 3 hurricane, which is what I anticipated, but it is also taking a bit deeper channel in towards landfall, which at this point appears to be just east of Fort Walton Beach.

While surge is going to be an immediate problem along the coast, within the next few hours, the threat for high wind and a few tornadoes will be pronounced in places like Panama City and Tallahassee. Fortunately, Isaias is moving steadily, and while there is a threat for flash flooding, it is not as severe as we have seen with storms in recent years.

Isaias will march through Alabama tomorrow, which has brought some speculation about the viability of the college football game in Tuscaloosa. It should start drying out fairly early, and football is important at the University of Alabama, so expect it will be a miserable game on.

Isaias is major hurricane and will certainly cause problems in the Panhandle, but it is not as strong as Matthew, the most recent strong hurricane to hit the area, and is not going to dawdle in the high terrain, like Helene. Any landfalling hurricane is notable, and it is particularly notable this year, as it is the first hurricane of any kind in the Atlantic. It only takes one!

Be safe out there.