BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The 10 a.m. CDT update from the National Hurricane Center shows that Invest 97L is now Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine. As of now, the projected track stays east of Louisiana. Showers and thunderstorms associated with a broad area of low pressure in the northwest Caribbean have become better organized. This broad area of low pressure is located over the northwest Caribbean Sea. The projected track will be affected by an upper-level trough digging southward through the central and southern U.S. around the middle of this week. The movement of the trough will steer the tropical system on a northern and northeastern track in the Eastern Gulf. If there aren't any changes to this track, then Louisiana should receive little to no impact. The heavy rainfall, storm surge and gusty winds threat will remain over the northeastern Gulf and west coast of Florida. A tropical depression or storm will likely develop within 24-48 hours. Tropical storm and hurricane conditions are likely by Tuesday night over the northeast Yucatan Peninsula and Cuba. Tropical storm warnings and hurricane watches have been issued for those areas. Further strengthening into a hurricane later this week is expected as this system moves north through the Gulf. Warm water and low wind shear will contribute to strengthening. Tropical weather: What is rapid intensification of a storm? Why does it keep happening? The next name on the hurricane list is Helene. This system could become a Category 1 storm by Wednesday morning and strengthen to a Category 2 by Wednesday night. Currently, projected tracks show landfall occurring on Thursday in the Big Bend area of Florida. Remember, impacts from a hurricane can still be felt outside of the cone. Residents on the Alabama coast and all along the west coast of Florida should be monitoring this tropical threat closely. Latest News Baton Rouge pickleball tournament to raise money for nonprofit that helps cancer patients 'I could be doing more honestly': Latina businesswoman hopes to expand her Austin empire 23andMe agrees to $30M settlement over 2023 data breach: How much could users get? Melania Trump to sit for interview on 'Fox & Friends' You can now add a kids profile to your Audible account