HOLT, Fla., Nov. 9, 2020—Tropical Storm Eta appears to be on track to make a northern Gulf coast landfall if it remains a tropical system.

According to the National Hurricane Center, Eta is forecast to strengthen during the next 36 hours before slowly weakening as it approaches the coast.

For now, Eta is expected to weaken into a depression by Saturday evening. It remains to be seen whether it will dissipate while still over Gulf waters.

Eta is moving toward the southwest near 9 mph but is expected to slow tonight with little overall motion tomorrow, according to the NHC.

A slow northward motion is expected Tuesday night and Wednesday, keeping the storm over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico tonight through Wednesday.

Gradual weakening is expected to begin by late Wednesday and then continue through the end of the week.

Further out in the central Atlantic, Subtropical Storm Theta strengthened into the season’s 29th named storm and 30th tropical system making 2020 the most active hurricane season on record.

This is also the first season on record to get this deep into the Greek alphabet naming system.

Theta is forecast to travel eastward away from the United States toward Europe.

It is forecast to remain a tropical storm through landfall.

Closer to home, there’s been no real change in the forecast of the tropical wave in the Caribbean.

It’s still got a 50-50 chance to develop into a tropical depression late this week or during the weekend as it moves slowly westward.

Should it become a depression, it will be the 31st system of the season. If it develops into a tropical storm, it will be named Iota.

National Hurricane Center forecasts