JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Despite a track very similar to Major Hurricane Matthew that did millions and millions of dollars in damages across areas along and east of the St. Johns River, this time, strong upper-level winds (about 35,000′) are coming from the west up to 60 mph and this is displacing the worst of Isaias’ weather well east of the center. Plus, Tropical Storm Isaias taking a track well to the east of Jacksonville, our impacts will remain minimal.
Yet, Isaias will impact our Southern coastal counties and along the St. Johns River in Clay and Putnam counties the most.
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The nearest approach will be about 100 miles off area beaches and will be there around 8-10 am. If there is to be some impact, it will be between 6 a.m. until noon.
Since Isaias will be turning away from the coast as it passes Duval County northward into Georgia, beach impacts from Duval County north into Georgia coastal counties will be rather muted, basically comparable to a breezy winter Nor’easter, downpours possible, except instead of being breezy and chilly it will be super steamy.
Maximum beach winds from Jacksonville beach northward will remain just barely at tropical storm force -- 40 mph. Those will be mainly in gusts. Timing for the worst impact will be around sunrise Monday (6 a.m.-12 p.m.).
Isaias is just a tropical storm, however, weaker hurricanes and strong tropical storms have a tendency to “spin off” unusual areas of wind and rain, well away from the center of the storm. This means if you live inland, be alert to that possibility.
We saw some of that during the day on Sunday as rounds of rains pushed all the way to I-75 in the inland locations of Florida and Georgia. There could be more of this later in the day on Monday.