The Gulf of Mexico will again be watched closely for tropical development next week.

The National Hurricane Center has raised the probabilities of a tropical depression forming and moving into the eastern Gulf of Mexico early next week.

The National Weather Service in Mobile mentioned the possibility in its forecast discussion on Thursday morning, noting the hurricane center’s outlook and saying the situation will be watched closely over the weekend.

The hurricane center was also tracking Tropical Storm Franklin, which moved over Hispaniola on Wednesday and was heading northward and expected to strengthen. The current forecast track keeps Franklin away from the U.S.

And there are two other tropical waves (one is the remnants of Tropical Storm Emily) that also could become depressions in the next few days.

The system that could affect the Gulf is of the most immediate concern to those in the U.S.

As of Thursday morning the disturbance was actually in the eastern Pacific near the coast of Central America.

The hurricane center expects the system to move into the northwestern Caribbean this weekend. Then it could move slowly northward toward the eastern Gulf early next week, where a tropical depression could form.

It’s too early to say where it could go, or even how or if it could develop. But the Gulf is very warm, even after Tropical Storm Harold moved through this week, so anything brewing there will need to be watched closely.

The hurricane center also continued to track Tropical Storm Franklin, which could become the season’s second hurricane this weekend. Franklin is forecast to take a path northward after crossing over Hispaniola on Wednesday and could move between Bermuda and the East Coast of the U.S. through mid-week next week.

As of 4 a.m. CDT Thursday, Tropical Storm Franklin was located 55 miles east-northeast of Grand Turk Island and was moving north at 13 mph.

The hurricane center said Franklin had sustained winds of 50 mph. Franklin is forecast to strengthen and become a hurricane in a few days.

There are no watches and warnings in effect for Franklin as of Thursday morning, but the storm will be watched closely by those in Bermuda. Franklin could make its closest approach to that island on Monday. As of Thursday morning the island is expected to be east of the center of the storm when it passes by.

The hurricane center is also tracking the remnants of Tropical Storm Emily in the central Atlantic, but that system is not expected to affect land.

There is also another disturbance in the central Atlantic that could also become a depression but is far away from the U.S. and of no immediate concern to any land areas.

The next names on the Atlantic storm list, by the way, are Idalia (pronounced ee-DAL-ya), Jose and Katia.