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Tropical storm watches issued for Florida, could become hurricane by landfall, NHC says

DeSantis "closely monitoring" Isaias
Posted at 1:40 PM, Jul 30, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-30 19:24:41-04

Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the Atlantic on Wednesday night, and it could bring heavy rain and strong winds to Florida. The National Hurricane Center said it is forecasted to become a hurricane Friday or Friday evening.

On Thursday, the National Hurricane Center issued tropical storm watches for parts of Florida ahead of the storm.

The National Hurricane Center said on Wednesday that the storm could impact Florida by the end of the week and over the weekend. On Thursday afternoon, NHC said it was too soon to determine the location or magnitude of those impacts.

"Here's the problem, all of our models have shifted east overnight. Except the Euro, which has now shifted the storm back into the Gulf of Mexico," Gree Dee said Thursday morning. "I cannot underscore this enough, this storm track is not set in stone right now."

Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Wednesday that he's "closely" monitoring the system. He recommends Floridians be prepared now with at least seven days of disaster supplies ready.

Isaias continues to produce life-threatening flash flooding and gusty winds over Puerto Rico. On the forecast track, the center of the storm will move over Hispaniola on Thursday and near the southeastern Bahamas by Thursday night or early Friday.

Isaias is forecast to be near the Central Bahamas Friday night and approach the Northwest Bahamas or southern Florida Friday night and Saturday.

This story originally reported by Emily McCain on abcactionnews.com