A tropical depression formed Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico, several hundred miles from Florida, on the first day of the six-month hurricane season.
The system, TD 2, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, was about 305 miles from Fort Myers and 325 miles from the Dry Tortugas on Thursday afternoon.
“Some modest intensification is forecast, and the depression could become a tropical storm tonight or tomorrow,” the National Hurricane Center said in a public advisory. “However, the system should begin to weaken by Friday night and degenerate into a remnant low by Saturday.”
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If it becomes a named storm, the system would be called Arlene.
No watches or warnings were in effect.
But the system could bring up to 6 inches of rain by Saturday to some parts of Central and Southern Florida, resulting in isolated flooding, the hurricane center said.
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