As Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico recover from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, yet another storm seems to be on its way, with Central America and the Gulf Coast in its path.

Tropical Storm Nate, which edged along the coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua on Thursday, is expected to strengthen into a hurricane and strike the Gulf Coast over the weekend. It would be the third hurricane to hit the continental United States since late August.

But in coastal states on Thursday, and at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, emergency officials and forecasters could do little to pinpoint Nate’s path. The hurricane center said that residents in four states — Alabama, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi — were at the greatest risk from the storm, the 14th named system of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Some local governments ordered or recommended evacuations.

“Nate is forecast to reach the northern Gulf Coast this weekend as a hurricane, and the threat of direct impacts from wind, storm surge, and heavy rainfall is increasing from Louisiana through the Florida Panhandle,” the hurricane center said in a forecast on Thursday evening. Officials expected to issue a hurricane watch for part of the Gulf Coast by Friday morning.