Tropical Storm Isaias forms in Gulf, could reach U.S. coast as hurricane
Tropical Storm Isaias formed early Wednesday over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane before approaching the northern Gulf Coast on Friday.
In its 4 a.m. CDT advisory, the National Hurricane Center placed the storm about 285 miles west of Progreso, Mexico, and 580 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was moving east-northeast at 8 mph. Forecasters expected it to pass north of the Yucatán Peninsula, then turn northeast and north on Thursday and Friday.
The precise landfall location remained uncertain, with earlier forecasts identifying an area from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle. The storm could bring 3 to 6 inches of rain from far southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, with isolated totals of up to 10 inches. Additional rain could extend across parts of …