Tropical depression could brew in Gulf, drift toward USAn area of showers and thunderstorms over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, currently dubbed 97L, has the potential to slowly organize, and it may become the 17th tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season.
AccuWeather meteorologists say that two separate storms will form in the Gulf of Mexico late this week. The first of which is located closer to the United States coastline and it is expected to be non-tropical in nature, according to Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather’s top hurricane expert. However, it will unleash a rainstorm across the South through Friday before it eventually moves on to impact the Midwest and Northeast.
"The storm farther south is the one to watch for tropical development," Kottlowski said. "There is only a very short window for strengthening before Invest 97L merges with a cold front, becomes non-tropical and moves inland on Friday night," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said. "As a result, we do not expect much strengthening with this, and there is a low probability this become a tropical storm," Douty added.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) released a special outlook for the system in the Bay of Campeche, or the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, on Thursday morning as it showed signs of gathering some rotation.
The next name on the Atlantic list is Olga if it strengthens into a tropical or sub-tropical storm.
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