A tropical storm swirling in the eastern Caribbean has raised the remote possibility that this year’s Republican National Convention could be more blustery than usual.

Tropical Storm Isaac was east of Guadeloupe on Tuesday, and forecasters say it could become a hurricane on track to hit Florida next week, when Republicans gather in Tampa.

The US National Hurricane Center’s five-day forecast shows the storm blowing over the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba but does not extend to Monday, when the four-day convention kicks off.

“It is too early to determine what, if any, impacts might be experienced in the Tampa area next week during the RNC,” said Dennis Feltgen of the US National Weather Service.

“The US is not yet in the forecast track cone, and there is a great deal of uncertainty beyond that five-day time frame.”

Thousands of party luminaries, top officials and supporters will convene in the Gulf coast city to formally nominate Mitt Romney to challenge President Barack Obama in the November 6 election.

The convention is largely a formality — Romney has been the presumptive nominee for months — but will feature prime-time speeches by the party’s leading lights aimed at rallying supporters to deny Obama a second term.