(CNN) – States from Louisiana to Florida braced Friday for Tropical Storm Nate, forecast to pound the Gulf Coast this weekend as a hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center on Friday upgraded the tropical storm warning for New Orleans to a hurricane warning. It extends from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain and Grand Island, Louisiana, eastward to the Alabama-Florida border.

The storm is expected to make landfall around midnight Saturday east of New Orleans, which was devastated 12 years ago by Hurricane Katrina. It would be the third hurricane, after Harvey and Irma, to hit the US mainland in six weeks.

A storm surge warning was put in place from Morgan City to the western part of the Florida Panhandle, as well as along the northern and western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.

“Residents in these areas should heed any evacuation instructions given by local officials,” the hurricane center said.