Puerto Rico and the eastern Caribbean could see several inches of rain and high winds from Tropical Storm Isaias as soon as Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
The fast-moving disturbance east of the Antilles is expected to strengthen into the season's ninth tropical storm overnight, before dropping rain over eastern Caribbean islands most of Wednesday. The latest projections from the National Hurricane Center show the storm could reach South Florida by the weekend, but forecasters stress it's far too early to predict the storm's potential impacts.
Tropical storm warnings were issued Tuesday for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Anguilla, St. Barthelemy, Dominica and the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucero to the northern border with Haiti.
The disturbance's potential path takes it over the Bahamas on Saturday and Florida on Sunday as a tropical storm with winds around 60 mph, although the National Hurricane Center has not issued predictions on how much rain the region might see.
The system still does not have a well-defined center, and forecasters said the storm could be unpredictable over the next few days.
"It cannot be stressed enough that since the system is still in the formative stage, greater than average uncertainty exists regarding both the short-term and longer-term track and intensity forecasts," they wrote.
Much depends on how the storm fares if it crosses the mountains of the Antilles.
"If the system moves over the Greater Antilles it is likely to be weaker than indicated in the official forecast, but a path north or south of Hispaniola could result in a stronger system," forecasters wrote.
The storm's current path would take it over Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, two areas still struggling to recover after devastating Category 5 storms. Hurricane Maria trashed Puerto Rico's power grid in 2017, and officials worry any storm could threaten it again.
On Tuesday, 100,000 customers lost power in Puerto Rico a day before the storm was predicted to cross the island.
The Bahamas' brush with Hurricane Dorian in September left the northern end of the archipelago in rough shape, and leaders were bracing themselves for the impact of another storm.
The storm could bring 50 to 60 mph winds, heavy rains and potentially life-threatening flash flooding and mudslides to the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The Windward Islands could see 2 to 4 inches of rain.
The Dominican Republic could experience 3 to 6 inches of rain, with some spots seeing 8 inches of rain.
The National Hurricane Center also issued its final advisory Monday morning for what was formerly known as Hurricane Hanna, the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season. Hanna made landfall along the coast of Texas on Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane and eventually weakened into a tropical depression as it traveled inland.
As for Tropical Storm Gonzalo, it weakened into a depression and dissipated early Saturday evening while traveling through the Caribbean Sea.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted this will be an active hurricane season, with 13 to 19 named storms. There have been eight named storms so far this season, a record reached earlier in the season than ever before, according to Colorado State University Meteorologist Philip Klotzbach.
