The NBC2 First Alert Hurricane Tracking team is monitoring the movement of Potential Tropical Cyclone Six in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico.
As of 5 a.m. Monday, Potential Tropical Cyclone 6 has winds of 50 mph and a forward motion of 5 mph toward the north-northwest.
The center of the developing system is being pegged approximately 320 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande River between southern Texas and northern Mexico.
"Potential Tropical Cyclone" is a term used to describe a system that is not yet organized enough to be considered a tropical depression but is forecast to bring at least tropical-storm-force conditions to an area of land within the next two days.
When this system becomes organized enough, it will take on the name Francine.
The western coast of Mexico will be the first land areas to feel impacts from this system. Because of the movement and forecast of Potential Tropical Cyclone 6, tropical storm watches are active along the Mexican coastline up to the United States border for now.
It's likely that watches and alerts will extend northward into the United States given how the storm is expected to move.
The initial forecast cone released by the National Hurricane Center with this storm indicate a possible landfall of a Category 1 hurricane by late Wednesday.
Because of the location and movement of the storm, Southwest Florida is not expected to see any direct impacts on our weather.
Elsewhere in the tropics there are two other areas to watch that are being highlighted by the National Hurricane Center.
Though both of these waves are moving westward, it's too early to tell where they will eventually track.
The stretch of September we're now in marks the climatological peak of hurricane season. Though there are no immediate threats to our local community, we'll have a lot to watch in the coming days as Francine forms in the Gulf of Mexico and the two waves being watched move across the ocean.
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