A hurricane could hit Florida later this week

A hurricane could make landfall in Florida later this week, the National Hurricane Center warned. The National Hurricane Center’s forecasts currently refer to the weather system as “Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine,” but it is expected to strengthen into a hurricane named “Hurricane Helene” later this week.

Tropical storm force and possibly hurricane force winds are expected in parts of western Cuba and the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula overnight into Tuesday.

The storm is expected to intensify by Thursday and become a major Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches the northeast Gulf Coast. As of Monday morning, forecasters predicted the hurricane would make landfall along the Florida Panhandle sometime Thursday. Tropical Storm Warnings and Hurricane Watches were issued for parts of Mexico and Cuba.

The National Hurricane Center said Monday that there was “an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surges and destructive hurricane-force winds” along parts of the northern and northeastern Gulf Coast, which includes the Florida Panhandle and parts of Florida’s west coast.

On Monday morning, the National Weather Service said it was too early to determine the exact location of the storm and the extent of its impact, but urged residents to monitor weather forecasts and make sure they have a hurricane plan in place. Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 41 of Florida’s 67 counties on Monday in advance of the expected weather.

The storm could be the fourth hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year, as extreme weather events are expected to increase due to rising temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico. The last time four or more hurricanes made landfall in the U.S. during hurricane season was in 2020, the most active hurricane season on record, according to Climate.gov.