Isaac might impact both conventions

The latest track of Tropical Storm Isaac and the computer models predicting its future path are pointing toward the possibility that the storm could have an impact on both upcoming political conventions.

Isaac, which had 65 mph top winds early Friday evening and was south of Haiti, is still forecast to cross Cuba this weekend as a tropical storm, then emerge into the Florida Straits and the Gulf of Mexico, strengthening to hurricane status.

Late Friday afternoon, a tropical storm watch was issued for the Florida Keys and the southern Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida. On the Gulf coast, the watch extends from just south of Fort Myers southward.

We've heard a lot about how Isaac could affect the Republican National Convention next week in Tampa. As of now, it appears as if the hurricane will be 150 miles off the Florida Gulf Coast -- far enough to prevent the need for wholesale evacuations in Tampa, but close enough to deliver gusty winds, heavy rain and a chance of tornadoes.

But the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte?  It's the week after next.

Alex Sosnowski, a meteorologist with Accu-Weather, says forecasters expect Isaac to be a big rain-maker when it moves inland next week. Landfall is expected on the upper Gulf coast of Florida, perhaps near Pensacola, sometime late Monday.

Andrew Kimball, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Greer, S.C., noted that the computer models have varying predictions for what happens with Isaac when it moves inland.

Most of the models predict the storm will curve north and then a bit northeast, crossing Georgia and the Carolinas. The Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC), generally regarded as the "official" forecast, calls for the remnants to move northward through Alabama and central Tennessee.

Kimball notes that two computer models showing very heavy rain moving across the western Carolinas next Tuesday night and Wednesday. One model, the Global, calls for a swath of 8 to 12 inches of rain in some locales.

The predicted path for Isaac after landfall is in the general vicinity of dying tropical storms that have given Charlotte flooding rains in the past.

Sosnowski says it's too early to tell exactly where the heavy rain goes. But he noted the possible path of Charlotte for Isaac -- and the Democratic National Convention that starts Sept. 3, with some pre-convention events planned for next weekend.

"While Isaac will be long gone by that time (Sept. 3), any residual flooding and cleanup could cause some delays for last-minute preparations and travelers" to the DNC, Sosnowski says.