Hurricane Isaias, a Category 3 Storm at 120 MPH, Closes In on Pensacola for Friday Night Landfall

Hurricane Isaias strengthened to a Category 3 storm on Friday and moved toward an evening landfall near Pensacola, Florida, with forecasters warning of life-threatening storm surge and damaging winds along the Florida Panhandle and Alabama coasts, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 1 p.m. ET, the center was about 160 miles south of Pensacola with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and was moving north-northeast at 16 mph, according to the hurricane center. Forecasters expected Isaias to stay at or near major hurricane strength until landfall, with the center passing just south of Pensacola Beach early in the evening and moving ashore a couple of hours later.

Surge, rain and wind threats spread inland

The hurricane center raised its surge forecast to 6 to 9 feet near and to the right of where the center comes ashore, and forecast 4 to 8 inches of rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, southwestern Alabama and southwestern Georgia, with isolated coastal totals up to 15 inches possible. Hurricane-force winds extended about 30 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds about 185 miles, and forecasters said hurricane-force winds could reach as far as 100 miles inland into southern Alabama.

Tropical storm conditions were expected from New Orleans to Tallahassee, with inland watches reaching Birmingham, Alabama. Forecasters also warned that the tornado risk would increase Friday afternoon and overnight across the Panhandle and into southern Georgia, then spread across parts of the Southeast on Saturday.

Evacuations and preparations along the coast

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who expanded a state of emergency to 27 counties on Thursday, said in Pensacola on Friday that 16,000 linemen were ready to respond and told residents to expect power outages. Escambia County ordered evacuations in Zones A and B, including Pensacola Beach, Santa Rosa County expanded its order to include Zone C, and local officials said bridges would close when sustained winds reached about 39 to 40 mph and water service to Pensacola Beach would be shut off Friday afternoon.

All Waffle House locations in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties closed Friday morning until conditions are safe, according to the Pensacola News Journal. In the Gulf, operators had shut in nearly 1.3 million barrels per day of oil production, about 63 percent of the Gulf total, and evacuated 121 production platforms, according to federal figures cited by USA TODAY. Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season and would be the first to strike the United States since Hurricane Milton in 2024.

Reporting based on coverage by the Pensacola News Journal and USA TODAY.