(WLTX) - Tropical Storm Isaac's is finally showing strengthening as models were predicting several days ago, and may be ready to turn into a hurricane.

As of the 5 p.m. Friday advisory from the National Hurricane Center, Isaac had maximum sustained winds of 65 miles an hour. When the day began, wind speeds were only at 45 miles an hour.

BLOG: Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy's In-Depth Take on Where Isaac Will Go, and Its Effects on South Carolina

While the structure of Isaac has improved, the central core of the system has remained tough to define. While this data suggest that the storm shouldn't get much stronger, environmental conditions are favorable for rapid intensification.

As for its potential to hit the United States, that remains unclear, but at this point most computer models expect the storm to directly affect the mainland. 

Currently, the consensus path from the National Hurricane Center has the storm's center of circulation grazing  the Florida Keys Monday morning. The overall path has shifted slightly more to the west

After that, the storm will continue on a line which will take it toward the extreme western Florida panhandle and into Alabama. 

WLTX will continue to follow the storm here on WLTX.com, on air on News19, and on via Twitter @WLTX and our Facebook page.