Hurricane experts at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) as well as with AccuWeather are closely monitoring a tropical system over the northern Leeward Islands that has potential to strengthen significantly and become Tropical Storm Hermine, the eighth named storm of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season, by this weekend. The system poses a threat to land, as well as a distinct possibility of striking the Florida Peninsula from the southwest as a hurricane, the first hurricane to make landfall in that area and from that direction since Katrina in 2005.

This system, currently dubbed 99L, will reportedly pose a threat to land over the next 10 days, during which it is expected to strengthen from a tropical disturbance to Tropical Depression Eight before being upgraded to Tropical Storm Hermine by late this week, said AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

Storm system 99L is located approximately 1,300 miles southeast of Miami, Fla., according to AccuWeather's most recent storm update, posted on Wednesday Aug. 24 at 8:24 a.m. EST. Travelling at 15 miles per hour, the system is forecast to continue on in a west-northwesterly path as it approaches Puerto Rico on Wednesday night and nears Hispaniola by Thursday.

By Sunday, interests along the southeast coast of the Florida Peninsula, the Florida Keys, and northern Cuba can expect deteriorating weather, as well as sea and surf conditions, including dangerous riptides and currents.

Sosnowski suggests property owners living within the potential projected path of this storm may want to prepare for potential impact, particularly if it does end up making landfall in the southern U.S. as a hurricane.

Among the preventative measures suggested in anticipation of the approaching storm, as of this point in time, would be to locate and prepare storm shutters, ensure power generators are operational, and especially to closely monitor the progress of this system as it continues to strengthen in the coming days.