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Tropical Storm Isaac Forms In Atlantic, Puerto Rico Under Storm Watch

The National Hurricane Center's five-day forecast of Tropical Storm Isaac.
NWS
The National Hurricane Center's five-day forecast of Tropical Storm Isaac.

The National Hurricane Center says we have a new named tropical storm in the Atlantic.

Tropical Storm Isaac has winds of 40 mph, but it is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday afternoon.

The National Hurricane Center has issued tropical storm warnings for Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe and the surrounding islands. It has issued a tropical storm watch for Puerto Rico which means tropical storm force winds are expected in within 48 hours.

The Hurricane Center says that Haiti and the Dominican Republic should monitor the storm closely. Haiti is still recovering from a 2010 earthquake, so any storm could prove devastating.

As for the United States: It is still much too early to tell. The five-day forecast shows that Isaac could be near South Florida by Sunday, the day before the kickoff of the Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Again, long term models have a wide margin of error, which means Isaac could be south of Cuba or further north in the Atlantic. Still, it could make for a memorable RNC.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
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