Isaac soon to become a hurricane

Isaac will become a hurricane later today as he turns towards the central Gulf Coast. Right now the official forecast takes Isaac into southeastern Louisiana early Wednesday morning as a strong category 1 or minimal category 2 storm. From here Isaac will continue northwest into northern Louisiana near Monroe by Thursday night. The slow movement of Isaac will cause flooding problems along his path as up to 6 to 8 inches of rain could fall. Right now the official track keeps Isaac well enough off to our east where we would see very little in the way of rainfall. It does appear our winds would increase however beginning Wednesday as the difference of pressure between Isaac and a high pressure to our north will cause gusty north northeasterly winds, as high as 30MPH. There would also be a slight chance of a few wrap around showers and thunderstorms, especially Thursday based on the current track. There are still a couple of forecast models that want to bring Isaac right over East Texas. If this were to happen the track of heavy rain would move right across our area with wide spread amounts over 4 inches likely. This scenario appears unlikely at this time but bears watching due to the fact we could use the rain. It appears there will be one way Isaac will affect East Texas even if the path is well off to our east, in the wallet. Anytime a tropical system moves across this area of the Gulf oil prices seem to rise. So if you have the means, be sure to top off the gas tank today as prices will probably begin to rise latter today and tomorrow morning. Hurricane Katrina and Rita took a similar path and caused a huge spike in gas prices. Of course Isaac does not appear to be become near the strength of those storms but it will still be strong enough to cause pressure on the Gulf Coast oil industry.