Why isn't Isaac a hurricane already?
By Christopher Dickson on August 27, 2012, 8:52pm
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This afternoon many in the weather world have been voicing their disagreement with NHC's decision to keep Isaac as a Tropical Storm, saying it is inaccurate and belittles the danger of the situation. Though there is data that suggests Isaac is actually a weak Category One hurricane, the effectual difference is insignificant.
You may remember that in my article this morning [http://www.wxedge.com/articles/20120827could_isaac_really_be_as_bad_as_katrina] I said, "Isaac [... may] strengthen very rapidly IF he can expel his dry air." You may also notice the article's image, and come to the conclusion that Isaac has not 'expelled his dry air'. This is why Isaac is still a Tropical Storm (or weak Cat1 hurricane as some believe). Before landfall it should attain moderate Cat1 to weak Cat2 strength.
While this is good news for the Gulf Coast I must stress that Isaac is still a VERY DANGEROUS storm. As discussed in this morning's article Isaac will bring a potentially devastating storm surge. I failed to include that Isaac will stall over southern Louisiana bringing over 15" of rain to parts of SE Louisiana and Mississippi causing major flooding issues. I believe storm surge and rainfall flooding will be the main destructive elements of Isaac.
^The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center's (HPC) forecast for rainfall associated with Isaac. [http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/tropical/qpf/tcqpf.php?sname=Isaac]
As always tropical satellite images can be found on NOAA's tropical floater page. [http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/floaters.html]
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