The National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday that it plans on sending a US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft on Wednesday as a storm system spins in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
The National Hurricane Center said on Tuesday that the storm has a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression or tropical storm by Thursday, and an 80 percent chance of becoming a depression or storm by the weekend.
The center of the storm was located just off the Florida Gulf Coast.
Regardless of the disturbance's status, it is still likely to bring heavy rain from the upper Texas coast to the Florida panhandle.
The National Hurricane Center warns that the northern Gulf of Mexico has favorable conditions to form a tropical system.
The next tropical storm in the Atlantic basin will be named Barry.
The unnamed system is spinning in the same general area where Hurricane Michael gained strength last October. Hurricane Michael became a Category 5 hurricane just two days after becoming a hurricane. Hurricane Michael struck Florida, with the center coming on shore 20 miles east of Panama City.
