iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK)– A newly formed tropical depression in the southwestern Caribbean is forecast to strengthen to a hurricane that could impact the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The depression, which is currently churning 45 miles west-southwest of San Andres island, is expected to become a tropical storm later Wednesday, according to the National Hurrican Center.
Residents from Louisiana to Florida are being warned to monitor the system as it approaches this weekend. The area is still feeling the effects of hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
The depression could reach hurricane status as early as Saturday while entering the Gulf of Mexico. Its current trajectory has it on track to make landfall somewhere between Mobile, Alabama, and Tallahassee, Florida, on Sunday morning as a weak Category 1 hurricane. However, the track is subject to change.
Here are the Key Messages for Advisory 1 on Tropical Depression Sixteen. https://t.co/tW4KeGdBFb pic.twitter.com/0O25OW7LrW
— NHC Atlantic Ops (@NHC_Atlantic) October 4, 2017
So far, the Atlantic has seen five major hurricanes (Category 3 or higher) during the 2017 season; two short of the record set in 2005 that saw seven major hurricanes.
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