Biggest Threat To Palm Beach County As Isaac Passes

The cone of error from the National Hurricane Center no longer includes the Treasure Coast or Palm Beach County. But meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Miami caution that the cone doesn’t tell the whole picture because Isaac’s stormy weather extends some 150 miles from its center.

Palm Beach County will be in for a gusty and rainy Sunday as Isaac moves through the western tip of the Florida Keys early Monday as a tropical storm and grows into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday.

In the Palm Beach County area, the biggest threat from that passage won’t be wind or rain, but the potential for tornadoes, said Robert Molleda, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Miami.

“Anytime we’re in the northeast quadrant we have to thing about tornadoes. Any of those bands could have the potential to create those tornadoes and we’ll be watching that Sunday and early Monday,” Molleda said in an 11 a.m. briefing.

Based on the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. forecast track, meteorologists at the weather service report they expect the wind to kick up in Palm Beach County beginning late Sunday and continue through early Monday morning. The most likely scenario would deliver sustained winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts from 40 to 45 mph.

South Florida is expected to get a good soaking as well, particularly the southern tip of the state and up through Collier County on the west coast, according to the weather service’s 11 a.m. briefing. The entire region is expected to get an average of 3 inches to 5 inches.

Isaac is currently moving at west-northwest at 14 mph with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph.
As of the 11 a.m. forecast, Isaac’s center is expected to move over Hispaniola today and move near or over southeastern Cuba on Saturday.