The system is expected to head for Texas.
A tropical depression could form this week in the Gulf of Mexico, hurricane forecasters said in their Monday morning (Sept. 10) update. The system is expected to head for Texas.
As of 7 a.m., the National Hurricane Center said the disturbance was over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and western Cuba. It’s expected to move slowly northwest across the Caribbean during the next few days.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service’s Slidell office said the system could reach the Texas coast Friday or Saturday. It’s not expected to affect New Orleans, but forecasters said it could impact southwest Louisiana and the western coastal waters.
The National Hurricane Center’s five-day forecast map for Monday morning shows a large area in the Gulf, from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Texas coast, where a tropical depression could form. That area, shaded in orange, is not a forecast track, which is normally issued when the storm strengthens or is about to strengthen to a depression.
Showers and thunderstorms with the weak surface trough remain unorganized as of 7 a.m., but forecasters said slow development is possible. A tropical depression could form late this week when the system moves across the western Gulf of Mexico, the update said.
It has a low chance (10 percent) of developing into at least a tropical depression within 48 hours and a medium chance (40 percent) of developing within five days.
If it strengthens to a tropical storm, it most likely will be named Joyce. The National Hurricane Center currently is tracking five disturbances, including Hurricane Florence, Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Isaac.
Read the full update.
A tropical depression could form later this week when a trough currently over the NW Caribbean Sea moves over the western Gulf of Mexico. The Atlantic tropics are extremely busy now with Hurricanes #Florence, #Isaac, #Helene & 1 other disturbance. More: https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/poEZmmwKTE
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Carlie Kollath Wells is a morning reporter at NOLA.com| The Times-Picayune. Have an early-bird tip? Send it to her: cwells@nola.com or Twitter @carlie_kollath.
