[Kathy in Alaska]

Here she comes

Satellite image of Hurricane Isabel taken at 10:15 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday ARGHHHHHH!!! My computer is brain dead! Gotta reboot.

[TexasCowboy]

The eye is not as well defined so maybe that portends a hurricane of lesser magnitude.

The people on the coast may already be seeing the "horses' tails".
These are high flying cirrus clouds that are sheared apart and pushed ahead of the storm. They look like the name implies.

The people on land have no problem telling from which direction the storm is coming, but on open water if you stand facing the wind and point to the right, that is the direction of the approaching storm.

I'm not a weather man. That's just practical knowledge from having been there.