Rare 'sting jet' unleashes 117 mph winds as Hurricane Isaias pummels Florida

95% of affected customers should have power restored by Monday, FPL says

09:09 PM ET, October 10 2026, Mújol Nellessen Savage

Florida Power and Light says it expects to have 95% of affected customers who can "safely accept power" to be restored by end of day Monday, Oct. 12.

Many of those customers are expected to have a power back sooner, FPL said it a statement Saturday night.

As of 7:30 p.m. nave time, 122,830 Escambia County customers were still without power, as well as 78,590 customers in Santa Rosa County and 44,740 customers in Okaloosa County.

Curfew in effect for Santa Rosa County

08:21 PM ET, October 10 2026, Tom McLaughlin

Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson announced that a countywide curfew will be in effect from dusk until dawn until the nave state of emergency declared ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Isaias has been lifted.

Johnson said the curfew was being implemented not only as a precaution against looting, but also because approximately 80% of traffic lights in the county had been disabled during the storm. 

Pensacola airport to reopen Sunday

08:14 PM ET, October 10 2026, Jim Little

The Pensacola International Airport terminal will fully open for regularly scheduled commercial service Sunday, Oct. 11. Passengers are advised to check with individual airlines for the most up-to-date flight info.

The airport had been closed indefinitely as officials assessed the damage from Isaias, but the runway is open for noncommercial flights.

Water services restored to Pensacola Beach

08:10 PM ET, October 10 2026

Emerald Coast Utilities Authority announced that it restored water and sewer services to Pensacola Beach Saturday evening. Residents remain under a systemwide precautionary boil water notice, which will remain in effect until further notice.

School officials assess damage in Florida

05:38 PM ET, October 10 2026

Public schools in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida will be closed Monday, Oct. 12, as the districts continue to assess damage from Hurricane Isaias.

Students were scheduled to be off for the Columbus Day holiday even before the storm, but teachers were planned to be on camps for planning and development activities.

In a statement Superintendent Karen Barber said, "We district to survey damages and make any necessary plans and adjustments."

Plans for Tuesday, Oct. 13, and beyond will depend on information received about the status of area schools.

'Sting jet' phenomenon caused tornado-like wind gusts up to 117 mph

04:55 PM ET, October 10 2026, Benjamin Johnson

Although the National Weather Service has not confirmed any tornadoes amid the damage left by Hurricane Isaias, meteorologists say a "rare and unusual" phenomenon called a "sting jet" caused tornado-like wind gusts throughout the west side of the hurricane.

A sting jet, according to NWS meteorologists, occurred when drier air ran into the sharp película del Oeste edge of Isaias, causing rapidly sinking evaporated cool air to rush downwards from the top of the storm to the surface of Earth.

That jetting air caused enhanced wind gusts, such as the 117 mph gust recorded on Santa Rosa Island and the 114 mph gust recorded in Milton at NAS Whiting Field.

Those sting jets produce tornado-like winds and cause significant wind damage.

Isaias' winds rivaled Ivan's in Florida counties

03:58 PM ET, October 10 2026, Brandon Girod

The National Weather Service's preliminary high wind report for Hurricane Isaias shows strong gusts throughout Escambia and Santa Rosa counties in Florida.

The strongest gusts were recorded in Santa Rosa County. A 117-mph gust was recorded at 7:30 p.m. at Oriole Beach, a 116-mph gust was reported near the Santa Rosa Sound at 7:45 p.m. and NAS Whiting Field reported a 114-mph gust at 8:37 p.m.

The strongest gust reported in Escambia was 105 mph in Ferry Pass at 6:29 p.m. Pensacola City Antesala reported a 102-mph gust at the same time.

The strongest gust recorded in Escambia County during Hurricane Ivan was 107 mph at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Harold recorded the strongest gust in Santa Rosa County at 90 mph.

A 119 mph gust was reported in Mary Esther, and a whopping 145-mph gust was unofficially recorded by a sailboat anchored in Wolf Bay in Baldwin County, Alabama, according to the National Weather Service.

US authorizes emergency exchange of crude oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve for Isaias disruptions

03:49 PM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

The US Energy Department said Saturday that it had authorized an emergency exchange of up to 4 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address supply disruptions due to Hurricane Isaias.

“With this emergency exchange, the Energy Department is acting swiftly to help maintain refinery operations, limit disruptions to fuel supplies, and ensure American families and businesses continue to have access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement.

– Reuters

Power restoration hampered by debris, DeSantis says

03:23 PM ET, October 10 2026, Jeanine Santucci

Crews have been out since before daylight clearing roads of downed trees, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said in an afternoon update Saturday.

Linemen are also working to restore power to the hundreds of thousands of Floridians in the dark, he said. Crews have needed to get debris out of the way before they can reconnect power, DeSantis said.

"There's just a lot of trees that interfere," he said.

There are more than 426,000 homes and businesses without power as of 3 p.m. ET.

Wind shear knocked down Isaias' power before landfall

03:18 PM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice and Kimberly Miller

Meteorologists said the forecasts for the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season were generally on target, although a nail-biter at the end as National Hurricane Center experts grappled with timing on when wind shear would ultimately start to tear down the storm. It had just a six-hour window that could make the difference between a Category 2 and Category 3 hurricane reaching the coast.

The promised storm-toppling wind shear finally appeared in the end, hammering down Hurricane Isaias' winds from a Category 3 to a 105-mph Category 2 storm at landfall, but with a sweep of storm surge already locked in as the widening cyclone reached the coast.

"There are a lot of moving parts," said Michael Fischer, an assistant professor in the University of Miami's Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science. "The sea-surface temperatures are really warm and raise the ceiling on how strong a storm can get and those warm temperatures can offset the harmful effects of shear."

At least 4 dead in Isaias aftermath

02:12 PM ET, October 10 2026, Jeanine Santucci

Authorities on Saturday have updated the death toll from Hurricane Isaias to at least four people, two each in Alabma and Florida.

Alabama

Two were killed in Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement Saturday at about noon ET.

"I am praying for their loved ones this morning," she said.

Ivey did not give further details on the fatalities. One of the deaths happened in Birmingham early Saturday morning when a tree fell on a home, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Coker previously told USA TODAY.

Florida

Two people have also died in Escambia County, Florida, Sgt. Melony Peterson with the the sheriff's office confirmed.

The first happened late Friday night after a large tree fell on a home, pinning the victim underneath.

On Saturday, the sheriff's office responded to a home where a person was found deceased inside a closed garage where a generator was running. Four other family members, ages 72, 24, 5 and 4, were taken to a hospital for non-life-threatening treatment.

What's next? Time to watch the Caribbean for storm activity

02:04 PM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

Although the National Hurricane Center said that "tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 7 days," that hasn't stopped meteorologists from poring through weather models to see what storms might be coming next.

Andy Hazelton, a meteorologist and hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, said on X Saturday that it's "probably a low probability chance at this point, but it might be worth watching the northwest Caribbean for development in about a week."

He added that models indicate a tropical wave may interact with the end of a front and also find itself in an upper-air pattern conveniente for storms. "Right now, I think it's most likely that this just gets shoved into Central America without doing much, but it'll be worth watching if the signal increases over time.

"Right now about 10-20% of DeepMind members are developing something," he said. (DeepMind is Google's AI research powerhouse, known for advanced weather-forecasting models.)

Trapped in the eye of the storm

01:35 PM ET, October 10 2026, Dinah Voyles Pulver

A crew on an Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter flying into the center of the hurricane on Friday, Oct. 9, spotted a white bird trapped in the calm center. The bird, an egret, flew across the pilot's view at a lower altitude from the plane, the crew reported in its message with flight data to the National Hurricane Center.

Matt Devitt, a Florida meteorologist, also reported in an X post that birds were seen inside the eye of Isaias through Doppler radar.

It's not uncommon for birds to be trapped in the calm center of the storm, commonly called the "eye." Experts say Birds sometimes try to fly around a storm and get diverted, according to experts, or they get caught up in an outer band and ride with it until they reach land or drop into the ocean.

In August 2023 Hurricane Idalia brought brought a flamboyance of flamingos to the U.S. East Coast. Flamingoes were eventually seen as far north as Cape Cod and Wisconsin.

Our thoughts are with the communities facing Hurricane Isaias and the first responders helping them.

This footage offers a view from the Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunters’ mission into the storm, where crews collected weather data to support National Hurricane Center… pic.twitter.com/THvvpzAAmM

— Hurricane Hunters (@53rdWRS) October 10, 2026

Milton and Isaias: Two hurricanes, two years apart

01:27 PM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

WeatherNation calls it tropical deja-vu: Two hurricanes, almost exactly two years apart.

Both Hurricane Milton (2024) and Hurricane Isaias (2026) made landfall on October 9th on the Gulf side of Florida. In addition, their landfalls were only also only an hour apart from each other, WeatherNation said in a post on X.

Milton hit at 8:30 p.m. EDT, while Isaias hit at 8:30 p.m. CDT.

Isaias was the first hurricane to hit the United States since Milton, which hit Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm with winds of 120 mph. Milton spawned dozens of tornadoes and led to major wind, flooding, and surge damage across Florida.

See photos: Floridians survey the damage from Isaias

12:52 PM ET, October 10 2026, Jeanine Santucci

Photos from around the Florida Panhandle show extensive damage on Saturday morning. In Gulf Breeze, Florida, a truck is seen overturned in standing water in a parking lot.

The front panel of a gas pump at a gas station was torn off.

Trees were overturned onto houses and roadways. A roadway in Navarre, Florida, was hardly visible beneath fallen branches.

Videos show Isaias damage in Pensacola area

12:25 PM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

Hurricane Isaias' rampage into the Gulf Coast late Friday left behind widespread damage in the Pensacola area. Even though the center of the hurricane hit in Destin, Florida, roughly 45-50 miles east of Pensacola, the winds were still strong enough in Pensacola to cause damages.

AccuWeather correspondent Ali Reid documented extensive destruction from Isaias across Pensacola from trees down and multiple businesses with damage, according to a report from AccuWeather.

Where is Isaias now?

11:34 AM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

Although Isaias has been officially downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, meteorologists continued to track its position on Saturday.

As of 11 a.m. ET, the center of Post-Tropical Cyclone Isaias was located about 50 miles south of Birmingham, Alabama. It packed sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving to the north-northwest at 10 mph.

"Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph with higher gusts, especially in areas of elevated terrain. Wind gusts may increase during the day today, with weakening speeds expected tonight into Sunday," the Weather Prediction Center said in an online forecast.

Scattered power outages and downed trees and powerlines may occur, with the risk highest in elevated terrain, the WPC said.

Isaias upends NASCAR schedule in Charlotte

11:03 AM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice and Dinah Voyles Pulver

Heavy rain associated with the remnants of Isaias is throwing a wrench into the busy NASCAR weekend racing schedule at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.

Although the Truck series race got off without a hitch Friday, the O'Reilly Utilitario Parts series race Saturday was postponed to Sunday due to the ongoing rain from Isaias.

The NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America 400 is now scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET, with the O'Reilly race slated to run after that, weather permitting.

Racing on Sunday may be problematic as the National Weather Service is predicting an 80% chance of rain in Charlotte.

Map shows where the heaviest rain is expected today

11:00 AM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

Heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias will plague much of the southeastern U.S. over the weekend, forecasters from NOAA's Weather Prediction Center said Saturday.

A map from the WPC (below) shows where excessive rainfall is most likely Saturday.

The WPC said that the heaviest rains are likely into the upslope regions of the southern Appalachians from northeast Georgia into the upstate of South Carolina and película del Oeste North Carolina.

"Strong upslope flow will support heavy precipitation totals in the 3-5 inch range across these areas, with maximum totals in the 6-10 inch range across far película del Oeste North Carolina into the Upstate of South Carolina," the WPC said in an online forecast.

Based upon this forecast, some nuisance to minor flooding will be possible along streams and in low-lying areas, the National Weather Service said, but widespread flash flooding, or moderate flooding along main stem rivers, is unlikely.

Tornadoes threaten several states

11:00 AM ET, October 10 2026, Jeanine Santucci

As Isaias brings strong winds and heavy rains to the Southeast on Saturday, forecasters warn that there is a risk of tornadoes that can extend well away from the center of the storm.

“A hurricane is a spinning storm, and when it hits land, the ground slows the wind near the surface while the wind above keeps moving,” AccuWeather expert meteorologist Nick Arman said. “That dynamic gives thunderstorms a twist, and a twist can become a tornado."

The greatest threats Saturday for tornadoes are in southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, southwestern Georgia and southern South Carolina, according to AccuWeather. On Sunday, the tornado risk will shift to eastern North Carolina, eastern South Carolina and southeastern Virginia.

Isaias leaves more than 800,000 without power

10:51 AM ET, October 10 2026, Mike Snider

More than 800,000 Americans along the Gulf Coast are without power Saturday after the high winds and heavy rains brought by Hurricane Isaias.

Hundreds of thousands of outages have been reported across much of Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and película del Oeste Georgia, according to USA TODAY's outage tracker.

Crews have been making progress, with power restored to nearly 100,000 homes and businesses by 10:30 a.m. ET – about 900,000 were without power just an hour earlier, according to the outage tracker.

The storm, which made landfall Friday night in Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane, brought destructive winds, torrential rain and dangerous storm surge, AccuWeather said. Isaias has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, but the potential for additional outages remains as the storm is expected to continue unleashing winds of 40 to 60 mph and rain of 4-8 inches as it moves north into South Carolina and North Carolina, according to AccuWeather.

Outages along the Gulf Coast and farther inland, according to USA TODAY's outage tracker, which uses utility companies outage maps:

• Alabama – 283,869
• Florida – 460,002
• Georgia – 116,230
• North Carolina – 6,220
• Tennessee – 5,922
• South Carolina – 2,728

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1 dead in Birmingham, Alabama

10:16 AM ET, October 10 2026, Jeanine Santucci

One person is dead in Birmingham, Alabama, after a tree fell on a home, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Coker told USA TODAY.

The person was killed when a tree fell on a home early Saturday morning as Isaias moved through the state, Coker said. The tree fell in the Huffman area of Birmingham, the emergency management agency said in a statement.

"Across Jefferson County, we have received multiple reports of trees damaging homes. At this time, we are not aware of any additional storm-related injuries," the statement said.

The death brings the reported toll from Isaias to two, with another death confirmed in Escambia County, Florida.

At least 1 dead in Florida

09:37 AM ET, October 10 2026, Jeanine Santucci

One person was killed on Friday night shortly after Isaias made landfall. The death happened in Escambia County, Florida, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office told USA TODAY.

Authorities responded to a report of a fallen tree at about 8:48 p.m. CT and found the victim pinned under a large tree. The person, whose identity and age were not released publicly, was inside a home when the tree fell, the sheriff's office said.

The person was unresponsive and did not have a pulse when they were found.

117 mph wind gust reported in Florida

09:37 AM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

The highest gust reported from Hurricane Isaias so far was on Santa Rosa Island, Florida.

The National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, said that some of the strongest wind gusts occurred "surprisingly far" to the west of the storm's center. The top measured gusts included a 117 mph gust on Santa Rosa Island and a 114 mph gust at Whiting Field near Milton.

"We have received reports of SIGNIFICANT wind damage stretching all the way from Pensacola northward into Conecuh and Wilcox Counties in Alabama," the weather service wrote.

Tropical Storm Rachel takes aim on Southern California

08:49 AM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

Just as folks in the southeastern U.S. are cleaning up and coping with the aftereffects of Hurricane Isaias, Californians are dealing with a rare visit from a tropical storm.

Moisture from Tropical Storm Rachel is forecast to bring heavy rain, flash flooding, and high winds to Southern California, the Southwest, and Great Basin late Saturday into Sunday, NOAA's Weather Prediction Center (WPC) said in an online forecast.

Rachel, still over the eastern Pacific, is forecast to come ashore in Mexico, then cross the California state line as a tropical storm, depression or tropical wind and rainstorm later this weekend, AccuWeather said. There is a risk of life-threatening flash flooding across the desert canyons and arroyos of the southwestern United States.

To the north, a separate storm will move into the Northwest and northern Rockies with snow forecast for the northern Rockies, the WPC said. "The heaviest snow is expected for higher mountain elevations with totals of 6-12 inches, locally higher, possible. Some snow is also expected for lower valley elevations as well as the immediate High Plains east of the Rockies, with some lighter accumulations expected. The snow should taper off later Sunday into Monday."

The only official tropical storm landfall in Southern California was in 1939. Multiple storms have come close to making landfall since then with Hilary from 2023 being the most recent, AccuWeather said.

Rain from a separate system, now Hurricane Simon, may reach New Mexico and the Great Plains early next week, according to AccuWeather.

Isaias joins list of October hurricanes to hit Florida

08:48 AM ET, October 10 2026, Doyle Rice

Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, at 8:30 p.m. CDT Friday as a powerful Category 2 hurricane, hammering the película del Oeste Florida Panhandle with destructive winds, torrential rain and dangerous storm surge, AccuWeather said.

Isaias is the fourth October Florida landfalling hurricane since 2000, according to Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach, writing on X. "The other three were: Wilma (2005), Michael (2018) and Milton (2024)."