Tropical Storm Isaias forms, is forecast to become a hurricane and hit US Gulf Coast this week

Tropical Storm Isaias formed in the warm waters off eastern Mexico on Wednesday and is expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season before making landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast later this week. The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for the northern Gulf Coast, indicating that hurricane conditions are possible within 48 hours.

The storm is currently centered about 260 miles northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. Forecasters predict that Isaias will become a hurricane by Thursday and make landfall late Friday or early Saturday, potentially tying or breaking a 121-year-old record as the latest arriving initial hurricane of the Atlantic season.

Residents of the northern Gulf Coast are advised to prepare for dangerous wind, storm surge, and heavy rain that could trigger flash floods.

Brief written by urgent.news from Mongabay's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.