Bob Henson

A tropical depression organizing in the record-breaking warm waters of the western Gulf of Mexico is predicted to arrive as Hurricane Isaias on Friday night.

Isaias is expected to quickly strengthen into the season’s first hurricane by early Thursday – the latest first-forming Atlantic hurricane in reliable records by a wide margin.

The most likely landfall intensity of Isaias has an unusually large range, from a strong tropical storm to a strong category 2 hurricane.

Record-high temperatures in September encompassed the largest area of the globe for any month since records began.

The first major Atlantic hurricane of 2026 threatens the Gulf Coast with a storm surge of up to 9 feet, damaging winds, flooding, and tornadoes, with impacts spreading across the Southeast on Saturday. With the Tropical Storm Watch on the West Coast for Rachel, it's the first time the National Hurricane Center has issued watches/warnings simultaneously for both coasts.

Cat 4 Simon eyes Puerto Vallarta, while Tropical Storm Rachel heads for Baja California before hauling moisture into the U.S. Southwest.

As Champi buzzsaws its way across the Western Pacific this week, the U.S. coast from North Carolina to New Jersey is bracing for several days of high water from a slow-moving nor'easter that could take on subtropical characteristics.

by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson, Yale Climate Connections October 18, 2026

by Irene Sans, Bob Henson and Jeff Masters, Yale Climate Connections October 22, 2026

Miami faces its longest-ever streak of moderate coastal flooding, historic floods sweep across the Southwest, and Typhoon In-fa and Cyclone Arnab threaten the Northern Mariana Islands and eastern India.