# 5820
The National Hurricane Center in Miami upgraded tropical depression 14 – located far out in the Atlantic – to a Tropical Storm this morning naming it Maria.
Its forecast track is expected bring it near the upper Leeward Islands as a tropical storm in about 3 days, and while intensity models are not particularly aggressive, it could be threatening Puerto Rico by Sunday and the Bahamas early in the week.
Meanwhile Hurricane Katia is headed out to sea, and a third area of disturbed weather located in the extreme Southwestern part of the Gulf of Mexico is being watched for development.
We’ll have a much better idea of where Maria will go, and how strong she may become, after this system clears the islands of Puerto Rico and Hispaniola.
Interests in Florida, the Bahamas, and along the Gulf coast and Atlantic seaboard, should stay on top of this storm’s progress and make sure their hurricane plans and preparations are in order.
As always, the National Hurricane Center website should be your primary source of forecast information, but if you are on Twitter, you should also follow @FEMA, @CraigatFEMA, @NHC_Atlantic, @NHC_Pacific and @ReadydotGov for the latest Emergency information.
