A disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico is forecast to strengthen into a tropical storm Monday, and could become a hurricane before it reaches the U.S.

Tropical Storm Francine is eyeing Louisiana and will impact the western Gulf Coast of the United States as a hurricane later this week, as the season finally comes out of its strange, quiet daze. The storm was churning in the record-warm western Gulf of Mexico after forming late Monday morning a few hundred miles away from the Mexico-Texas border with winds of 50 mph.

The National Hurricane Center forecasts Tropical Storm Francine to form in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday and grow into a hurricane before landfall this week.