Tropical Storm Isaias Drenches Northeast Florida

Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Isaias soaked Duval County and surrounding areas as the system's remnants moved inland. Rainfall extended from the beaches to Riverside, while coastal surf and rough seas diminished under westerly winds.

Isaias made landfall near Destin in the Florida Panhandle on Friday, October 9 as a Category 2 hurricane with winds near 105 mph. The system represented the first U.S. hurricane landfall since October 2024.

The National Hurricane Center classified the system as Tropical Depression #9 on Tuesday, October 6, then upgraded it to Tropical Depression Isaias early Wednesday before it rapidly intensified into a hurricane. Forecasters initially struggled to predict Isaias's intensity due to strong westerly wind shear over the Northern Gulf and dry air moving west to east. Warm Gulf waters, a warm ocean eddy, and a pulse in the Madden-Julian Oscillation ultimately favored its development.

The storm triggered strong winds, heavy rain, flooding and isolated tornadoes across Southeast Mississippi, Southeast Alabama, and the Central and Western Florida Panhandle. As Isaias tracked northeast through the Tennessee Valley into the Mid-Atlantic states, it continued dropping rain and spawning isolated tornadoes in those regions.