Invest 97L forms, Florida to Louisiana prepare for possible tropical storm or Hurricane Helene

TAMPA, Florida. – Invest 97L is likely to develop into a tropical storm or hurricane by the end of the week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The likelihood of development of Invest 97L has steadily increased and according to the NHC there is a high probability of tropical development from the northwestern Caribbean Sea to the southern and eastern Gulf of Mexico over the next seven days.

“But right now it looks like the most likely scenario is something in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. So that obviously poses a problem for us here on the west coast of Florida,” explained FOX 13 News meteorologist Jim Weber.

The probability of developing the disease in the next two days is 40% and in the next seven days it is 80%.

On Thursday or Thursday night, the storm – whether a tropical storm or Hurricane Helene – could make landfall somewhere between Louisiana and Florida.

The NHC is also monitoring a tropical wave near the west coast of Africa that is expected to move westward over the next few days.

Environmental conditions could favor a gradual development of this system, and according to the NHC, a tropical depression could form during the middle or later part of the week as the wave moves westward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic.

The probability that the wave will form within the next seven days is 50%.

FOXWeather.com contributed to this story.

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