00:00This is one of the effects that we were highlighting would be particularly dangerous associated with Hurricane Isaias is the
00:07idea that there would be a widespread storm surge across a several hundred mile portion of the Gulf Coast. And
00:13look at the numbers here about five and a half foot surge storm surge in Panama City Beach 4.16
00:20in Apalachicola. But also look well west across parts of Louisiana. There was a three to four foot surge there
00:28as well.
00:29So this is why we were highlighting that the surge would be one way that the storm would be remembered
00:34over a wide part of the Gulf Coastline. And of course, these are just the measurements where there's actually gauge
00:41values. Some places in between these locations could have easily had higher amounts of storm surge that could have gotten
00:48near 10 feet or even higher in some of the most heavily impacted areas, especially since that storm would not
00:55give up on its intensity until the last minute before it made landfall.
00:59Yesterday and the wind field of the storm was expanding as well. So storm surge was, as we expected, a
01:04major problem with this storm.
01:07Well, and speaking of that expanding wind field, a lot of what our reporters have been showing us throughout the
01:11morning is wind damage.
01:13And they've been talking about the power outages, which might be the most widespread impact.
01:17It might very well be. And this is what we were concerned about with lots of wind coming well inland,
01:23especially across Alabama and Georgia and also across, obviously, portions of Florida as well.
01:29And that's why there are nearly there's nearly a million people without a million addresses without power across these impacted
01:40areas with so much wind coming inland.
01:42And when you look at the county by county breakdown, you can see that the no surprise, the greatest power
01:49outages are near where Isaias made landfall in the Florida panhandle just to the west of Destin near Fort Walton
01:57Beach.
01:57And then also moving all the way inland here, because these are the areas where the core of the damaging
02:03winds went right up into parts of central Alabama.
02:06And, of course, also outages across parts of western Georgia as well.
02:10And there'll be more outages here through the day today because there's going to be a broad area of wind
02:15anywhere from 40 to 60 miles per hour across parts of the southeastern United States.
02:21And if we take a look at that wind forecast, we'll show you that that wind is going to expand,
02:25especially in gusts here, across even into the portions of the Appalachians and maybe even all the way up into
02:31the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania,
02:33where there can be wind gusts of 40 to 60 miles per hour associated with the storm as well.
02:39And then watch along the Atlantic coast from parts of North Carolina through the Delmarva.
02:44There can be 40 to 60 mile per hour wind gusts along the, especially along the beaches there as well.
02:48So wind still a problem here as we make our way through the day today and even into tomorrow as
02:54well.
02:54Yeah, we've already started to see in northern Alabama, northern Georgia, some of the wind damage from some of those
02:59stronger wind gusts.
03:00Now, I do briefly want to go back to the county by county because, John, we've seen some significant damage,
03:06trees uprooted, light poles down in places like Pensacola and places like Panama City Beach.
03:10But in the case of Pensacola, that's west of landfall.
03:14And I know a lot of people might think, OK, isn't the western side supposed to be not as bad?
03:18Let's talk a little bit about why that western Iowa just really made a difference here.
03:22Well, that's a great point.
03:24And it goes back to the structure of the storm.
03:26We were talking about all week long how Isaias would be interacting with another storm approaching from the west.
03:32And as it did so, its wind field would be broadening.
03:36So it would have some characteristics of almost a hybrid storm as it made its progress further to the north
03:43and started to lose some of those tropical characteristics and interact with that other storm.
03:48So the wind field broadened out, and that's why there were multiple reports of wind gusts near 115 miles per
03:55hour, maybe a little bit higher, that were on sort of all sides of the storm as it was making
04:00landfall.
04:00This was a particularly gusty hurricane, and that's why we were emphasizing the concerns about that and the tree damage
04:07aspect of it.
04:08And tragically, we have reports now of perhaps two fatalities associated with tree damage.
04:15And that's, again, a concern as you move inland, more trees and more power lines and risks trees and power
04:23lines coming down.
04:24And they can be very dangerous to people, too, even when they're inside their homes.
04:28So when you have wind that's significant, it's always important to try to be in an interior part of the
04:34home, away from windows, to attempt to minimize the risks as it relates to falling trees, because they can be
04:41very dangerous.
04:42Yeah, and like we were talking about, the wind today not going to be as strong, but tree limbs down,
04:46power lines down still can bring that danger for people.
04:49But there's also the tornado danger.
04:52This has been another factor that we've been talking about.
04:54A few spin-up tornadoes appeared to have occurred yesterday.
04:59Our team of 100 expert meteorologists digging into all the data.
05:02We just had one of our morning map discussions, and we were reviewing all the data and debating the forecast.
05:09And one of the things we talked about is we think the tornado risk is going to be ramping up
05:13through the afternoon today as the storm continues, as these rain bands continue to pivot through parts of Georgia and
05:20eventually even getting up into the Carolinas.
05:23Also watch out across parts of North Florida and all the way to the Atlantic coast, too.
05:28So it's a broad area of impact where there could be these tornadoes that spin up.
05:34And, of course, that's not going to happen in every community.
05:36Tornadoes, by their very nature, are widely separated.
05:39So it's not going to be in all these locations.
05:41But this is the risk area, and these are the places to be especially aware of that risk.
05:46It's a great time to download the free AccuWeather app.
05:48That's available for Android and iOS right from the appropriate App Store or Google Play.
05:54And you can turn on push notifications.
05:56If a government tornado warning is issued for your community, they'll be sent directly to you.
06:00You can also subscribe to our AccuWeather Premium Plus service.
06:03That's a service where AccuWeather storm experts issue warnings.
06:07And when we can provide more advanced notice and greater accuracy, we make those available as well.
06:12So in a situation like this, those are great resources to help keep you safer and better prepared.
06:18Definitely.
06:18We were talking with Guy Pearson yesterday.
06:20It's his team that is issuing those AccuWeather-specific warnings.
06:24Just a little background insider knowledge.
06:26But tomorrow, the tornado threat continues.
06:29John, take our viewers through how the tornado threat changes, what the environmental factors are that we're looking at.
06:37Well, we'll still have those rain bands associated with the tropical wind and rainstorm moving to the north.
06:44So the risk area is going to move to the north.
06:46So the Carolinas are still in it during the day tomorrow and into tomorrow night.
06:53But then we add parts of the mid-Atlantic as well.
06:55So portions of southern Virginia out toward the Delmarva.
06:59Again, any of these rain bands can produce a quick spin-up tornado.
07:03They'll be widely separated again.
07:05But tomorrow can be a very active tornado day once again as the risk area moves to the north and
07:10to the east.
07:10And some of the rain can also be briefly heavy associated with the storm here across parts of the mid
07:16-Atlantic
07:17and also into parts of the northeast as well.
07:20All right, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist John Porter, thanks for joining us.
07:24Good to be with you.
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