Tropical Storm Isaac barely stirred Florida Keys Sunday, while the Gulf Coast braced for the possibility that the sprawling storm will strengthen into a dangerous hurricane by the time it makes landfall there.

The (projected path of Tropical Storm Isaac)

At 8:00 p.m. ET Sunday, the center of the storm was located about 60 miles southwest of Key West or 530 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving northwest at about 15 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of around 65 mph. Isaac is expected to strengthen as it moves out over the open, warm water of the Gulf of Mexico. It is on course to strike land on the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a powerful storm that crippled New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and became a symbol of government ineptitude.

(Hurricane Katrina 2005 - NOAA)

Isaac passed the Keys late Sunday before turning northwest, where forecasters have predicted it could strike as a Category 2 hurricane somewhere between New Orleans and the Florida Panhandle on Wednesday. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for a large swath of the northern Gulf Coast from east of Morgan City, La. - which includes the New Orleans area - to Destin, Fla. A Category 2 hurricane has sustained winds of between 96 and 110 mph.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said he may skip a speaking engagement later this week at the Republican National Convention in Tampa unless the threat to his state subsides. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has canceled his trip to the convention because of Isaac. (read more at CBS News)