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official data (NOAA / NHC Public Advisories 12A to 14A; NOAA / WPC Post-Tropical Advisory 20, final)

Isaias is gone: the hurricane peaked at 120 mph, came ashore in the western Florida Panhandle, and dissipated over the Appalachians

Origin Lane: climateSouthern Gulf · 24.4°N 89.3°W (Adv 9) · ~215 mi N of Progreso, Mexico · ~325 mi S of the mouth of the Mississippi RiverBy the Doom Signals desk

GOES-19 GeoColor satellite image of Hurricane Isaias at 5 PM EDT Oct 8, 2026: a small eye in a dense, round core over the southern Gulf of Mexico, with a broad cloud shield spreading northeast over the Florida Panhandle.
Isaias over the southern Gulf at 5 PM EDT Thursday, Oct 8, the day before its peak.IMAGE: NOAA/NESDIS/STAR · GOES-19 GeoColor · 21:00 UTC Oct 8 2026 · public domain

Isaias is over. The hurricane that reached 120 mph in the northern Gulf on Friday came ashore in the western Florida Panhandle that evening and unwound across Alabama, Tennessee and the Appalachians. The Weather Prediction Center wrote its last advisory Sunday morning.

Peak (NHC Adv 12A, 100 PM CDT Fri Oct 9)
120 mph, 959 mb, 28.4N 87.2W, about 145 mi S of Pensacola
Nearing landfall (NHC Adv 13A, 700 PM CDT Fri Oct 9)
110 mph, 967 mb, 30.1N 86.6W, about 45 mi SE of Pensacola
Inland (NHC Adv 14, 1000 PM CDT Fri Oct 9)
90 mph, 982 mb, moving over the western Florida Panhandle
Over Alabama (NHC Adv 15, 400 AM CDT Sat Oct 10)
35 mph, 1002 mb, about 25 mi SSW of Montgomery
Final (WPC Adv 20, 1100 AM EDT Sun Oct 11)
Post-tropical, 25 mph, 1010 mb, 37.5N 84.0W; dissipating over West Virginia

This is the last public advisory issued by the Weather Prediction Center on this system.

NOAA WPC, Post-Tropical Cyclone Isaias Advisory 20, Oct 11

At 1 PM CDT Friday, October 9, NHC Advisory 12A had Isaias at its strongest: 120 mph and 959 mb near 28.4 North, 87.2 West, about 145 miles south of Pensacola, Florida.

At 7 PM CDT, Advisory 13A said Isaias was nearing landfall in the western Florida Panhandle at 110 mph and 967 mb, with hurricane conditions and extreme gusts spreading across the warning area. At 10 PM CDT, Advisory 14 had the center moving over the western Panhandle, about 45 miles east-northeast of Pensacola, at 90 mph.

Isaias weakened quickly over land: 65 mph at 1 AM CDT Saturday over southern Alabama, 35 mph by 4 AM CDT about 25 miles south-southwest of Montgomery.

The Weather Prediction Center took over advisories. Its Advisory 20, at 11 AM EDT Sunday, October 11, placed Post-Tropical Cyclone Isaias near 37.5 North, 84.0 West, about 180 miles northeast of Nashville, at 25 mph and 1010 mb, and called it the last public advisory. WPC said flood watches covered parts of the central and southern Appalachians, rapid river rises remained possible in western North Carolina, and the low would dissipate over West Virginia that evening.

The storm is finished. The accounting is not.

Why it matters

Damage counts and the official landfall point and intensity come from NWS damage surveys and the NHC Tropical Cyclone Report, which can take months. Until then, the advisories are the record.

Sources

Primary + secondary attribution as listed.

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