SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Tropical Storm Isaias has now formed in the Atlantic.
As of 11 pm Wednesday, TS Isaias is 155 miles south of Ponce, Puerto Rico. It has max sustained winds of 50 mph and is moving to the west-northwest at 20 mph.
A west-northwestward to northwestward motion with some decrease in forward speed is expected over the next couple of days. On this forecast track, Isaias will move over Hispaniola on Thursday and near the Southeastern Bahamas by early Friday.
Maximum sustained winds are near 50mph now. Some weakening is expected when the center moves over Hispaniola and then restrengthening on Friday.
Some strengthening will be possible before it interacts with the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola tomorrow and Cuba Friday. The track and strength of the soon to be storm becomes less certain as we head through the weekend and into next week.
The steering high pressure is expected to remain strong for the next few days. This will allow Isaias to move in a west-northwest direction. As the high pressure weakens this weekend, the storm will slow down as it approaches southern Florida.
It’s still too early to know what we could see here at home in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry. But… if we were too see anything, the time frame would be at the earliest on Sunday and then into early next week. For now, the best thing to do is to stay informed on the latest updated tracks.
Breaking Records
Now that Isaias formed, it has broken the record for the earliest I named storm. This record is currently held by 2005’s Irene, which formed on August 7, 2005. When Isaias forms, it will become the 6th storm this year to set the record for being the earliest named storm.
| NAME | NEW RECORD DATE | NAME | PREVIOUS RECORD DATE |
| Cristobal | June 2 | Colin | June 5, 2016 |
| Edouard | July 6 | Emily | July 11, 2005 |
| Fay | July 9 | Franklin | July 21, 2005 |
| Gonzalo | July 22 | Gert | July 24, 2005 |
| Hanna | July 24 | Harvey | August 3, 2005 |
| Isaias | July 29 | Irene | August 7, 2005 |