The National Hurricane Center is tracking a tropical disturbance heading toward the Gulf of Mexico.
There is a 40% chance that it will become a tropical depression this weekend and an 80% chance that it will do so in the next seven days, as it moves parallel to the Yucatan Peninsula and heads north towards the US coast.
The chances are growing that a tropical depression will form early next week and enter the Gulf of Mexico Sea, according to Friday's 2 p.m. release from the NHC. National Hurricane Center
It's still too early to tell if it will unfold and what impact, if any, it could have for Louisiana, Florida and other Gulf Coast states.
If it were to become a tropical storm, the next name available for it is Idalia. There have been two named storms in the Gulf so far this year; Tropical Storm Harold recently made landfall in Texas.
Storm Franklin leaves Dominican Republic but continues the alert
Aug. 24, 202300:32
For now, it is located in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, near Central America. It has winds of about 25 miles per hour. Florida emergency services said they are closely monitoring the system.
"What we're most concerned about is flooding across the peninsula," Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said in an interview with FOX Weather.
[Dominican Republic and Haiti on alert for the arrival of Storm Franklin, which can cause floods and landslides]
Guthrie expressed concern about the possibility of a tropical storm or a low-intensity Category 1 hurricane making landfall in the Nature Coast or Big Bend area, north of Tampa Bay.
"The Gulf of Mexico is very, very hot right now. So we don't know exactly what we're going to face," he added. "But we're going to prepare for the next three days, like we're going to get a Category 1 hurricane and we're going to make those preparations, we're asking people to listen to their local emergency managers."
One person reported dead and others injured by Storm Franklin in Dominican Republic
Aug. 24, 202300:19
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urges state residents to prepare for any impact.
"I have directed @KevinGuthrieFL and the Emergency Management team to prepare for a possible tropical system currently moving through the Yucatan Peninsula. Residents should remain vigilant and prepare for potential impacts early next week," he wrote on the X social network.
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In addition, the Florida Division of Emergency Management called on people in the state to "brush up on their knowledge of terms officials may use when issuing important weather updates."
He also recommended that they monitor local weather alerts and make sure "they have an emergency plan."
With information from Axios, FOX Weather, WDSU and the National Hurricane Center.