Tropical Storm Alex approached hurricane strength early Tuesday as it churned off the northwestern coast of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula in the Bay of Campeche, the National Hurricane Center said.

Once thought to be a possible threat, the storm is heading away from the massive oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

A hurricane warning has been issued for the Gulf Coast from Baffin Bay, Texas, to La Cruz, Mexico. A hurricane warning means tropical storm-force winds are expected in the forecast area within 36 hours.

A tropical storm warning is in place along the Texas coast from Baffin Bay to Port O’Connor.

At 5 a.m. ET, Alex had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph with stronger gusts, the Hurricane Center said. It was located about 455 miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas, and was moving toward the north-northwest near 8 mph, the center said.

The hurricane center’s forecast map shows Alex making landfall sometime Wednesday evening as a Category 1 storm along the northern Gulf Coast of Mexico, south of Brownsville.

(Source: CNN)