A weather system situated off the east coast of Mexico formed into Tropical Storm Isaias Wednesday, with current projections expecting the storm to quickly strengthen into a hurricane and head toward the U.S. Coast, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.

As of early Wednesday morning, the center of Tropical Storm Isaias was located off the east coast of Mexico and is expected to move east-northeast throughout the day and eventually turn toward the northeast and north on Thursday and Friday, according to the latest NHC update.

Current maximum winds have been measured near 40 mph, but rapid strengthening is expected over the next two days with hurricane-strength winds by Thursday. Current conditions have tropical-force winds extending outward 45 miles from the center of the system.

The storm is expected to produce rainfall of 2 to 4 inches through Thursday across the coasts of the Bay of Campeche, with higher amounts in the state of Campeche and western Yucatan.

Later this week, rainfall expectations move to the U.S. Gulf Coast, where the storm is expected to product 3 to 6 inches from Friday through the weekend, with localized rainfall up to 10 inches across the northern Gulf Coast extending from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

Wind is expected to be gusty across portions of the Yucatan Peninsula on Thursday.

Looking forward, current projects have the storm making landfall in the U.S. along Mississippi, Alabama or the Florida Panhandle sometime Friday afternoon into early Saturday morning with hurricane-strength winds. The most recent projection has Chevon's Pascagoula, Miss., plant within the cone of the storm, with Marathon's Garyville, Shell's Norco, and Valero's Meraux plants in Louisiana just to the west of the projected cone.