A disturbance in the Caribbean will likely intensify into Tropical Storm Nate by the end of Wednesday and move toward the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters say.
Tropical Depression 16 formed from a disturbance in the Caribbean on Wednesday morning and may reach hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall Sunday, likely over the Florida panhandle and other parts of the northern Gulf Coast, according to AccuWeather.
The depression has sustained winds of 35 miles per hour and is moving northwest at 7 miles per hour, Fox News reported. It is expected to go across northeastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras on Thursday, and could dump 15 to 20 inches of rain on these areas, with locally higher amounts.
By Friday, the storm will be in the Caribbean Sea, where unusally warm waters could cause it to intensify rapidly as it tracks toward northern Florida and the Louisiana coast, Fox News reported.
Major population areas including New Orleans; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Apalachicola, and Tampa, Florida, could be direct hits for the storm, The Washington Post reported.
The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday "it is too early to specify the timings or magnitude of these impacts," the Post reported. Most October hurricanes form in the western Caribbean Sea, as seems to be happening here, Accuweather noted.
Accuweather has predicted 17 tropical storms for this season. So far this year there have been 13 tropical storms and eight hurricanes, four of which were major.
Twitter users encouraged Nate to take a hike, and wondered if vacation plans would be ruined.