Storm Issac's path may cross GOP convention

Tropical Storm Isaac may grow into a hurricane on a path toward the west coast of Florida, where the Republican Party holds its national convention next week.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center's tracking map shows the system crossing Haiti on Friday and striking Cuba before arriving at the Florida coast below Cape Coral on Monday.

That's the opening day of the Tampa gathering at which Republicans are expected to nominate Mitt Romney as their presidential candidate.

"At this point the error in our forecasts is so huge that it's very difficult to tell what the risks would be," said Jeff Masters, founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Mich. "We're not going to have an idea until Sunday, at the earliest, what kind of risk this poses to Tampa. It's quite the drama."

Isaac is the ninth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. The center said it may become a hurricane , return to tropical-storm level over Haiti and Cuba, then regain hurricane strength en route to Florida.

"We're paying extremely close attention to it," Florida's emergency management director, Bryan Koon, said in an interview yesterday. "We anticipate there will be impact to the state next week. But exactly where and how much remains to be seen."