America’s good hurricane luck is about to run out

People look out at the waves churning in the ocean as Hurricane Isaias approaches. | Joe Raedle/Getty Images This story appeared in Today, Explained, a daily newsletter that helps you understand the most compelling news and stories of the day.

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The first hurricane of the fall season is expected to strike the Gulf Coast overnight, marking the latest onset of hurricane season in living memory.

As of early Friday afternoon, Hurricane Isaias had grown to a Category 3 storm, with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour.

It will strike along the shores of the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, and Mississippi, posing a threat to life and property for millions of Americans.

Weather forecasters anticipate between 8 and 12 inches of rain in the areas near where the storm makes landfall.

Isaias’s imminent arrival signals the end of a period of unusual good luck when it comes to hurricanes striking the United States.

Last year, no hurricanes reached the US mainland at all.

And this year, Isaias is breaking a more than 100-year-old record: October 9 is the latest date since 1905 for the first Atlantic hurricane of the season to take shape.

August and September have historically been the busiest periods of hurricane season.

Not lately, though.

It’s a strange recent phenomenon, and it’s been even more fortuitous than it would ordinarily be.

That’s because the Trump administration has slashed weather forecasting and emergency relief funding over the past two years, leaving us less prepared for a disaster.

And now our luck seems to be running out — with even more rough weather on the way.