(CNN)It's October. A powerful hurricane is brewing in the Bahamas. The whole system is threatening to head straight north to the U.S.

You can't blame the people along the East Coast if they're having a Sandy flashback when it comes to Hurricane Joaquin.The powerful tropical system became a major hurricane overnight. And over the next day, the Category 3 storm will only get stronger.

The good news: If current projections hold, Joaquin won't be another Sandy.

The not-so-good news: Hurricane projections are notoriously unpredictable.It was just three years ago this month that Superstorm Sandy slammed the northeastern United States, devastating parts of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.The current track of Joaquin puts it hauntingly close where Sandy made landfall in 2015.

But the projected path of the system has already changed multiple times and could change again.

And should Joaquin make it back to the areas Sandy devastated before, it's not expected to pack the same punch.