Hurricane Isaias is set to drive heavy rain and gusts up to 50 mph into metro Atlanta on Saturday, the day before the Baltimore Ravens play the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For Ravens fans flying or driving south from Maryland, the bigger question is not the game itself but getting there and back, because the storm’s remnants are also forecast to soak Baltimore on Sunday.
The Ravens (3-1) and Falcons (2-2) are scheduled to kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 11, on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. As of Friday morning, no change to the game time had been announced. Here is what the official forecasts say, hour by hour, and what it means for fans traveling from Baltimore.
Where is Hurricane Isaias now, and where is it going?
At 7 a.m. CDT Friday, the National Hurricane Center placed Isaias about 245 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, with maximum sustained winds near 110 mph, moving north-northeast at 15 mph. Forecasters said it was likely to become a major hurricane Friday morning and expected landfall along the northern Gulf Coast, within a hurricane warning stretching from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County line in Florida, Friday night or early Saturday.
“Isaias is likely to become a major hurricane this morning and remain a dangerous hurricane at landfall this evening or tonight.”
National Hurricane Center, 7 a.m. CDT advisory, Oct. 9, 2026
After landfall, the NHC forecast calls for Isaias to weaken quickly as it moves inland across Alabama and toward the Tennessee Valley, becoming post-tropical by Saturday night. Its moisture, however, spreads much farther east, across Georgia, the Carolinas and eventually the mid-Atlantic.
What will the weather be in Atlanta on game day?
The worst of the storm in Atlanta is forecast for Friday night and Saturday, not Sunday night. The National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, Georgia, has posted a High Wind Watch for parts of north and west-central Georgia from 8 a.m. Saturday until 8 a.m. Sunday, warning of east winds of 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph that could bring down trees and power lines and cause widespread outages.
A Flood Watch covering much of north and central Georgia, including Cobb, Clayton and DeKalb counties, runs from late Friday night through Sunday morning. Forecasters expect widespread rainfall totals of 1 to 3 inches, with localized amounts near 5 inches.
| Period | Atlanta forecast (stadium area) | Baltimore forecast |
|---|---|---|
| Friday night | Showers and storms after 8 p.m., gusts to 45 mph, 1-2 in. of rain possible | Mostly cloudy, low near 55 |
| Saturday | Showers and storms, gusts to 45 mph, 2-3 in. of rain possible | Mostly cloudy, high near 73 |
| Saturday night | Showers and storms, gusts to 40 mph | Rain after 2 a.m., 80% chance |
| Sunday | Chance of showers before 8 a.m., then partly sunny, high near 74 | Rain, 100% chance, gusts to 25 mph |
| Sunday night (game) | Partly cloudy, low near 61 | Showers, then thunderstorms, 90% chance |
Mercedes-Benz Stadium has a retractable roof, so rain is not expected to affect play on the field. By kickoff, the NWS forecast shows Atlanta drying out under partly cloudy skies.
Could the Ravens-Falcons game be moved?
Nothing announced so far points that way. The Falcons were still promoting game-day fan events around the stadium for Sunday night as of Thursday, and previews from Atlanta media treated the matchup as on schedule. In Georgia, other big weekend events were also going ahead: CBS News Atlanta reported that the Georgia-Alabama college football game was set to be played as scheduled despite Isaias.
Any decision to change an NFL game’s time or site would come from the league. Fans should watch the Ravens’ and Falcons’ official channels through the weekend, especially if Saturday’s wind causes major power outages in the Atlanta area.
What should Ravens fans flying from BWI know?
Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport has regular nonstop service to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport, and Saturday is the day most likely to see disruption. Thunderstorms and 40-plus mph gusts at one of the world’s busiest airports can ripple into delays and cancellations across the country, including flights that never touch the Gulf Coast.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines has issued a Hurricane Isaias travel waiver, but as of Friday morning it covered cities closer to landfall, not Atlanta. According to WSB-TV, the waiver applies to travel to, from or through Pensacola, Panama City, Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Montgomery, Mobile, Dothan, Birmingham, Gulfport-Biloxi and Columbus, Mississippi, with free changes if rebooked on or before Oct. 13.
- Check your flight Friday night and Saturday morning, not just on the day you fly. Waivers are often expanded as a storm moves.
- Consider flying Sunday morning if your schedule allows. The Atlanta forecast improves sharply after 8 a.m. Sunday.
- Watch the return trip. Monday-morning flights back to BWI could run into Baltimore’s own showers and thunderstorms, which the NWS gives a 60% chance before 2 p.m. Monday.
- Keep a charged phone and battery pack. The NWS warns that Saturday’s wind could cause widespread power outages in north Georgia.
What about driving to Atlanta from Maryland?
The drive from Baltimore to Atlanta runs roughly 680 miles, most of it on Interstate 95 and Interstate 85 through Virginia and the Carolinas. The NHC expects 2 to 5 inches of rain across much of the Southeast this weekend, with localized amounts up to 10 inches in the southern Appalachians and coastal Carolinas, and it warns of a tornado threat Saturday in parts of Georgia and the Carolinas. Fans planning to drive Saturday should expect wet roads, gusty crosswinds for high-profile vehicles and possible flash flooding, and should never drive through flooded roadways.
Watching from Baltimore? Plan for a wet Sunday
Fans staying home will deal with Isaias, too. The NWS forecast for Baltimore calls for rain showers all day Sunday with a 100% chance of rain, east winds gusting to 25 mph, and showers turning to thunderstorms Sunday night, right around kickoff. Our earlier report explains how much rain Isaias’ remnants could bring to Baltimore.
In the Baltimore market, the game airs on WBAL-TV 11. The status of quarterback Lamar Jackson, who sprained his ankle last week, is the other big question of the weekend; see what Ravens fans should know about Jackson’s availability.
Key times to watch this weekend
- Friday night to early Saturday: Isaias makes landfall on the northern Gulf Coast, according to the NHC.
- 8 a.m. Saturday: High Wind Watch begins in north and west-central Georgia.
- Late Saturday night: Rain spreads into Baltimore.
- 8 a.m. Sunday: High Wind Watch and Flood Watch in the Atlanta area are scheduled to end.
- 8:20 p.m. Sunday: Ravens at Falcons kickoff, NBC.
Featured image: Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Photo: Thomson200 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0.