Following the pattern established by Florence, Gordon, and
Helene in the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, Isaac formed in
the Central Atlantic, intensified into a hurricane, and then
curved east well before approaching the U.S. East Coast. The
2006 Atlantic hurricane season continued to be a welcome respite
from the previous year’s onslaught, with not a single hurricane
making landfall in the United States as of early October. At
that time, including Isaac, there had been 9 named storms, 5
hurricanes, and 2 major hurricanes in the Atlantic—numbers very
typical of an average season. This image of Hurricane Isaac was
observed by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
satellite at 12:44 UTC on October 1. At the time, Isaac was
passing east-northeast of Bermuda. The eye is not distinct, with
the southwestern portion experiencing southwesterly wind shear.
Isaac remained a small storm, maintaining Category 1 intensity
through until the morning of October 2. By the afternoon, Isaac
had weakened back to tropic