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A light rain started falling Saturday morning across the Triangle as the outer bands of Hurricane Isaias began passing through the state.
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Now a post-tropical cyclone, Isaias is making its way through Alabama after coming ashore Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. By 5 a.m. Saturday, the storm was about 25 miles southwest of Montgomery, Alabama, with 35 mph winds, officials said
The storm is expected to bring 1 to 2 inches of rain to the central Piedmont through Sunday, with higher rain totals and an isolated flood risk in mountains and coastal areas, where up to 6 inches of rain or more are possible, NWS officials said.
Severe thunderstorms are likely Saturday night into Sunday across the central Piedmont, leading to isolated, damaging winds and the possibility of a few tornadoes between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. Sunday, NWS officials said.
Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 hurricane season — an unusually calm tropical season for the Atlantic thanks, in part, to a very strong El Niño.
Mid-September is the climatological peak of the hurricane season (which ends Nov. 30), and this year’s season was the first in modern history during which a hurricane hadn’t formed by that peak.
Wind shear increases during El Niño, a climate pattern that brings wetter winters to North Carolina and the southeast, and it prevents tropical storms from forming and becoming larger. The NWS upped the chances of a below-normal season to 75% in early August, forecasting zero to two major hurricanes.
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Isaias hit that major hurricane threshold as it became a Category 3 storm on Friday and gathered strength in the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico.
In a Friday news release, Gov. Josh Stein urged residents to prepare for a risk of “localized flooding and gusty winds” despite Isaias not expected to make landfall in the state. Some of the state’s emergency response and water rescue teams were “pre-positioned” around the state to respond if needed, according to that same release.
Isaias is pronounced “ees-ah-EE-ahs,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
This hurricane season, there have been nine named storms but none have reached hurricane strength. The next named storm would be Josephine.
These storms are categorized based on wind speed, which helps predict potential property damage, The News & Observer previously reported. Danger from other hazards like flooding, storm surges and tornadoes are not factored into the storm’s categorization.
According to the National Hurricane Center, storms are classified as:
Portions of this story were previously published in The News & Observer. This story has been updated.
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