Isaias breaks 121-year record as the Atlantic's latest first hurricane

The Atlantic's hurricane drought is over, and it is now the longest on record. Isaias reached hurricane strength over the Gulf Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. That is later than the first hurricane of any season on record, surpassing the 7 p.m. Oct. 7 mark set in 1905. Isaias is the ninth named storm of 2026. The first eight were all tropical storms, three of them hit the Gulf Coast, and none reached hurricane strength. In mid-September, Tropical Storm Fay came closest to hurricane status, peaking at 70 mph, 4 mph short of the Category 1 threshold....