It's going to be a wet weekend for various parts of the US Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Karen turns into a hurricane, CNN reports.

Its wind strength dropped to 50mph which started from 60 after three hours as it revolves around 250 miles on the southwest part of the Mississippi River on Friday morning. However, it is expected to gain strength again when it crosses waters up to maximum sustained winds of 74mph. With this, forecasters say that it will be then a Category 1 hurricane.

Bloomberg reports that Tropical Storm Karen could bring forth a total of 20 cm of rain along with some isolated tornadoes and several power outages in various places within the US Gulf Coast. It is forecasted too that it will make its landfall near the border line of Florida-Alabama today. It could also trigger tides about 3 to 5 feet beyond what's average straight from the Mississippi to the Mobile Bay part of Alabama.

Michael Schlacter, the Weather 2000 Inc founder based in New York, says that Tropical Storm Karen can be "the most exciting storm" the US can have this year. "The fact is, we can have a true hurricane right in the heart of the Gulf of Mexico," he added.

The Bloomberg article further explained that a storm evolves to a hurricane when its winds reach about 74 mph. Once it reaches the Gulf, it can bring great effects to the oil and gas operations of both the US and Mexico.

Michael Brenna, a hurricane expert, wrote that Tropical Storm Karen has been consistent in maintaining its intensity. As it reaches the coast, it can still maintain a strength as that of a hurricane.

As preparations for the storm, the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal announced a state emergency while Florida Governor Rick Scott announced the same but for 18 counties. Officials from New Orleans have warned residents to stay alert and keep track of the succeeding weather conditions in the coming days.