Don’t panic.

There will likely be a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico next week. That is true. But no one knows where it’s going or what it will do.

“What we know for sure is there is a system in the central Caribbean and it is likely going to develop into a hurricane,” said Michael Mugrage, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile.

“What it does from there? There is plenty of room on the table for it to go into the Yucatan, curb into Florida. Anywhere in between is fair game,” he said. “At this point, we can’t really say much given how far out it is.”

Mugrage said predictions on social media sites and maps charting models that have the storm landing squarely on Alabama are real, but are little more than conjecture at this point.

“They run them to show what could happen,” he said. “When it is that far out it is hard to determine something specific.”

What many of those social media posts don’t mention is that meteorologists are actually keeping an eye on four separate systems.

Hurricane Fiona is heading away from Puerto Rico where it knocked out power to the entire island and moving towards Canada’s Atlantic coast where Mugrage said it will produce a significant system for residents there.

There are two more tropical waves brewing behind the system that is causing a stir on social media. Where they will head is also unknown.

Mugrage said it is fair to say that the first system in that triple line up will enter the Gulf as a hurricane early next week.

Regardless of where it heads, Mugrage said it is important for residents to have a hurricane plan in place.

“We emphasize that people should know what resources they need and what they need to do in the event a hurricane does come their way,” he said.