Tropical depression - or storm - may form soon in Gulf

Tropical depression – or storm – may form soon in Gulf

There could be a new tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico soon.

The National Hurricane Center on Tuesday raised the probability to high (80 percent) that a depression or storm would form in the southwestern Gulf in the next day or two.

The system, which developed in part from energy from Hurricane Julia, has an area of low pressure associated with it, and the hurricane center said it was becoming more organized.

Forecasters said a Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance aircraft is scheduled to take a closer look at the storm later today.

It’s in a good place for development, and the hurricane center said a tropical depression — or Tropical Storm Karl — is “likely” to form as it heads to the northwest.

The hurricane center said heavy rain will be possible for parts of southern Mexico over the next few days.

A storm has to have a defined center of circulation and winds of at least 39 mph to become a tropical storm and get a name. The next name on the 2022 storm list is Karl.

There were no other systems being monitored for development as of Tuesday afternoon.

An area of disturbed weather over the southern Gulf of Mexico could become a tropical depression or storm soon.