Florida's Gulf Coast is bracing for the potential of a significant hurricane landfall later this week, as a possible tropical storm that could ultimately become Hurricane Helene is organizing in the Caribbean.

The tropical system in the western Caribbean may not look like much yet, but don’t be fooled. History has shown the Gulf of Mexico can be a pressure cooker, turning systems like this one from wimpy windstorms to devastating monster storms almost overnight under the right conditions.

A tropical disturbance is actively strengthening in the Gulf of Mexico as it heads toward the Big Bend and Florida Panhandle region of the coast.