Although it is much too early to tell where exactly Tropical Storm Paula will track in the coming week, Florida may be in its path. Tropical storms and hurricanes which form in the Atlantic in the month of October tend to move north from the Caribbean, and either turn west prior to striking the state of Florida, or slam into the west coast of the state.

Hurricane Wilma in 2005 did just this. Although Paula likely won’t become a powerful category 5 storm like Wilma did 5 years ago, the threat remains that the west coast of Florida or the southern tip of the state may be impacted by Paula down the line. It is very important that all interests along the Gulf of Mexico pay close attention to future National Hurricane Center updates.

Tropical storm Paula will likely become Hurricane Paula within a day or two. It will then basically stall out over the Gulf of Honduras for several days according to the NHC. From there, the computer models have several different solutions, but at this time its much too early for them to get a handle on the situation. The next several days should be crucial as to the development of the storm.