A storm is gaining strength in the northern Gulf of Mexico and the National Hurricane Center is now predicting organization to hurricane strength late Friday. If you live in a gulf coast community pay attention to storm updates.

At 1000 PM CDT (0300 UTC), the disturbance was centered near latitude 27.7 North, longitude 88.0 West. The system is moving toward the west-southwest near 9 mph (15 km/h). A motion toward the west is expected on Thursday, followed by a west-northwest motion on Friday and a northwestward motion by early Saturday. On the forecast track, the system is expected to approach the Louisiana coast this weekend.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. Strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, and the disturbance is forecast to become a tropical depression early Thursday, a tropical storm by late Thursday, and a hurricane by late Friday. (LINK)