A tropical storm watch was in effect for the coast, from the mouth of the Rio Grande River to west of San Luis Pass, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Thursday.
At 8 a.m. EDT, Don was packing maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 kmph) and was located about 545 miles east-southeast of Corpus Christi, Texas.
The center of Don should move through the southern and central Gulf of Mexico later Thursday and approach Texas on Friday.
"Some strengthening is possible during the next 48 hours. An Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft is en route to investigate Don," the Miami-based hurricane center said.
Don's current path would take it near oil and gas operations in the western and west-central part of the Gulf, mostly avoiding the biggest concentrations of production platforms south of New Orleans, but near several coastal refineries.
Read more: Yahoo
