Tropical Storm Isaac Forms

Watches and warnings have been issued in the Dominican Republic for the ninth tropical storm of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season, and forecasters believe the storm could be a hurricane by Thursday.

Tropical Storm Isaac has a path worth watching, local forecasters say. It comes almost exactly one year after Tropical Storm Irene formed. Later upgraded to a hurricane, that storm brushed the South Carolina coast causing widespread beach erosion and coastal flooding.

"That storm impacted us, and Isaac may also," wrote WCBD-TV meteorologist Rob Fowler. "It’s too early to make that call, but certainly bears watching."

Isaac will chart a course this weekend through the Caribbean, and by the weekend the storm could be on a path for the U.S. East Coast, many models indicate.

It could make landfall in extreme south Florida on early Monday, forecasts predict. And since the storm could shift east or west by as much as 300 miles by that point, it's worth watching in South Carolina.

Isaac's brush over the Dominican Republican could break up the storm. The island's 10,000-foot cliffs are often storm killers, but hurricane watches have been issued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.