Tropical Depression #9 upgrade to Tropical Storm Isaac

UPDATE: Tropical Depression 9 has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Isaac.

EARLIER STORY:

All eyes are on Tropical Depression #9 today as it speeds toward the Caribbean at about 20mph. 

The eleven am advisory from the National Hurricane Center keeps the system as a depression, but further strengthening is expected.

This could easily become Tropical Storm Isaac by later today, and possibly Hurricane Isaac by Friday. 

The computer models are in pretty good agreement that this storm will head toward the Leeward Islands over the next 36 hours, and then across the northern Caribbean on Friday. After that, the forecast becomes very uncertain. 

If the storm interacts with Hispaniola and Cuba, it could weaken very quickly or even dissipate (fall apart). 

If it stays closer to the central Caribbean, it could cross the Yucatan and head toward Texas and Mexico by the middle/end of next week. 

If it turns north a little sooner, it could end up in the Bahamas by the beginning of next week.

It is quite possible that South Florida will, at some point, be in the Forecast Cone for this storm. With that said, there is a lot that can happen over the next 5-7 days and there is still a good chance we could see very little impact at all… so there is no need to panic.

We ask that all our viewers stay calm and keep up to date with the latest forecast on WPTV.com as well as on NewsChannel 5.

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