The National Hurricane Center is issuing advisories on Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, a disturbance located over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and headed into the Gulf of Mexico. The organization forecasts over the next seven days that the weather system has a 90% chance of becoming a tropical storm and, potentially, a hurricane.

If that happens, its name will be “Helene.”

As of Monday, Sept. 23, the National Weather Service reported the system, southwest of Cuba, is moving toward the north near 6 mph (9 km/h). A northwestward motion is expected on Tuesday and Tuesday night, followed by a faster northward or north-northeastward motion on Wednesday and Thursday.

“On the forecast track, the center of the system is forecast to move across the northwestern Caribbean Sea and into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico during the next couple of days,” the agency predicted. “Maximum sustained winds are near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. Strengthening is expected during the next few days, and the system is forecast to become a hurricane on Wednesday and continue strengthening as it moves across the eastern Gulf of Mexico.”

A map of the potential storm cone (see image above) predicts that the center of the cone will cross the Florida panhandle through the center of Georgia, potentially bringing heavy rains and strong winds on Thursday and Friday.