Meteorologists expect hurricane to form, hit US Gulf Coast in Florida

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Meteorologists expect a hurricane will form later in the week before making landfall in northwestern Florida at the eastern end of the Gulf of Mexico, they said on Monday.

The forecasted path is too far east to threaten the petrochemical plants, liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and refineries that are along the western end of the Gulf Coast in the US states of Texas and Louisiana.

The path of the storm may be too far east to threaten offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf.

Florida does have a few chemical plants along its western coast, but it is too early to tell if the hurricane will make landfall near those plants or in the Big Bend, a sparsely populated region that is east of Pensacola and north of Tampa Bay.

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) does not forecast that the storm could strengthen into a major hurricane, which has maximum sustained wind speeds of 111 miles/h (179 km/h).

But the meteorological firm AccuWeather warned that such intensification is a possibility.

If the disturbance strengthens into a tropical storm, it will be named Helene.

Thumbnail shows forecasted path of storm. Image by National Hurricane Center.