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The eyes of meteorologists and those living along the Gulf Coast are looking south this week, toward the Yucatan Peninsula, as a tropical formation, currently dubbed Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, continues to develop. There is a high chance that this formation could develop into a hurricane this week, in the event of which it would be dubbed Hurricane Helene.

Current models by the National Weather Service and NOAA forecast the system developing into a hurricane by Wednesday morning, with the outer bands potentially making landfall Thursday morning, and the storm making landfall around the Tallahassee area/Florida panhandle later that same day.

WCTV meteorologist Cameron Aaron spoke with the Post-Searchlight about the system. While stating that there were still some uncertainties as the storm had yet to fully develop, he advised people to go ahead and prepare, as there may not be much time between it developing into a hurricane and making landfall.

Decatur County Emergency Services are currently monitoring the system as it develops, and will provide live updates via their free Decatur Co EMA application. The Post-Searchlight will also provide updates as they become available.