The Florida Panhandle may be spared major impact from the newly formed Tropical Storm Isaias, which now has the state’s east coast in sight.

The storm officially formed in the Atlantic Ocean near Puerto Rico around 11 p.m. last night.

As of 2 a.m. eastern this morning, Isaias was centered about 100 miles south-southwest of Ponce, Puerto Rico, and about 215 miles southeast of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It had maximum sustained winds of 50 m.p.h. and was moving northwest at 18 m.p.h.

The formation of the storm prompted forecasters to issue a tropical storm warning for several islands in the Caribbean.

Forecasters yesterday believed the storm would head for the west coast of Florida, including the Panhandle, but now they say the storm’s track has shifted to the state’s east but warned it remained too early to say for sure which way the storm will go.