SAVANNAH, Ga. () — The probability of the southeastern U.S. being impacted by a tropical system early next week is increasing due to a system organizing near eastern Cuba.

The tropical wave that the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has been watching for several days as it tracked along the northern Caribbean Islands has been designated as Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine (P.T.C. Nine) as of 5 p.m. EDT. It has sustained wind of 35 mph with higher gusts and is moving west-northwest at 10 mph as of 8 p.m. EDT. P.T.C. Nine is located just north of the eastern tip of Cuba.

The P.T.C. designation is due to the likelihood of this system becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm within the next day or so. Tropical storm watches and warnings have been issued for the Bahamas as of Friday evening.

Many of the global and hurricane models are coming into agreement on this system moving toward the southeastern U.S. coast by early next week. Landfall is possible along the South Carolina coast Tuesday or into Wednesday.

The official forecast path from the NHC calls P.T.C. Nine to become Tropical Storm Imelda on Saturday. It is forecast to become a hurricane by late Sunday or sometime on Monday. The next forecast path update from the NHC will come out with the 11 p.m. EDT advisory.

There is still a lot of uncertainty in the forecast for P.T.C. Nine including the path and intensity. Also, there is a chance that Hurricane Humberto could pull this system away from the coast before landfall. Even under that scenario, impacts will be felt along the coast.

Local impacts late Monday and through Wednesday could include strong wind, minor coastal flooding, and inland flooding from prolong heavy rainfall. The forecast for the magnitude of expected impacts will change as we get a better handle of the size, path, and the speed of the foreword speed of the storm.

Hurricane Humberto will have no direct impacts on the U.S. Right now, a weakening upper-level trough is expected to have a greater influence and pull this system toward the coast initially. Though as Humberto begins to pass near Bermuda by mid week, it may allow what is now P.T.C. Nine to move back out to sea.

This weekend is the time to look over your hurricane plan and be ready to take action if needed. The main impacts would be experienced locally Late Monday, into Tuesday and Wednesday.

HURRICANE HUMBERTO

Hurricane Humberto started out Friday as a minimal Category 1 storm but rapidly intensified into a major category 3 hurricane through the afternoon. Humberto has 115 mph sustained wind with gusts as high as 140 mph as of 5 p.m. EDT.

It is located about 550 miles northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is slowly moving west-northwest at 5 mph. It is forecast to become even stronger over the next day or so as it moves generally toward Bermuda.

The NHC forecasts that Humberto may become a category 4 hurricane with wind speeds as high as 150 mph over the weekend. Humberto should stay well east of the U.S. and just west of Bermuda early next week. It will then begin to turn northeastwardly by Wednesday, avoiding making landfall on Bermuda.