NOAA's GOES-East Shows Isaac As It Is Declared a Hurricane

This image from NOAA's geostationary weather satellite, GOES-East, shows Isaac as its winds surpassed the threshold to move from a Tropical Storm to a Hurricane.

Image credit:  NOAA

The storm is in the Gulf of Mexico (Florida shows clearly on the right) headed for New Orleans.  The image was taken at 1615 GMT (12:15 pm EDT) today.   The storm is moving northwest at 10 miles per hour with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour.  It is currently expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane (wind speeds of 74-95 mph).  Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana could experience storm surges of 6-12 feet above ground level if the peak surge occurs at high tide.  Rainfall of 7-14 inches is expected, with possible isolated amounts of 20 inches according to NOAA's 1:00 pm CDT (2:00 pm EDT) public advisory today.

For warnings related to the storm, see NOAA's National Hurricane Center.