NOAA’s National Hurricane Center issued a Public Advisory due to Hurricane Nate that is expected to make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the U.S. Gulf Coast tonight.

As of  8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, October 7, 2017, Hurricane Nate has maximum sustained winds of 850 mph (140 km/h), with higher gusts.

Nate is forecast to become a strong Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale before making landfall on the U.S. Gulf Coast tonight.

Computer models are in general agreement that Hurricane Nate will move north-northwestward over New Orleans, Louisiana.

However, there is a slight spread among the computer models as to exactly where Hurricane Nate will make landfall along the U.S. Gulf Coast between New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama.

Hurricane Nate is located 10 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi river and is moving to the north at 20 mph (31 km/h).

NHC forecasters say that Nate should reach the Mississippi and Louisiana coasts within hours.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center forecasts that the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through November 30, could be the busiest in seven years.