The National Hurricane Center forecast Hurricane Isaias to make landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast late Friday, October 9, 2026, or early Saturday, somewhere between Mobile, Alabama, and Destin, Florida. Its center was projected to pass about 30 miles south of Pensacola Beach, Florida, around 7 p.m. before coming ashore a couple of hours later. Forecasters expected a high-end Category 2 storm at landfall, with roughly 100 mph sustained winds, a life-threatening storm surge, and flooding rain well inland.
Source: USA Today, Oct. 9, 2026
Image: Hurricane Ivan over the Gulf of Mexico in 2004, NASA/NOAA, public domain.