A brewing storm in the Caribbean Sea is forecast to strengthen into a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico over the next few days and make landfall along the Gulf Coast as early as Thursday. By Monday evening,

Hurricane Helene is expected to form Wednesday and strengthen into a major hurricane before reaching Florida’s Gulf coast from Tampa to Pensacola Thursday.

An area of thunderstorms in the Caribbean is expected to develop into Hurricane Helene and rapidly intensify over the exceptionally warm Gulf of Mexico before slamming into the United States’ Gulf Coast later this week as a major hurricane.