Hurricane Center: Tropical depression could form in Caribbean this weekend | Hurricane Center

A tropical depression could form this weekend over the northwestern Caribbean Sea, the National Hurricane Center said Wednesday morning.

It’s too early to tell if the system could impact Louisiana or the Gulf Coast. The shaded area on the graphic is where a storm could develop and is not a track. The National Hurricane Center releases a track when a tropical depression forms or is about to form.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, a tropical wave was over the Caribbean and was expected to move west over the next couple of days. Its interaction with a frontal system is expected to form a low pressure system by Thursday night or Friday over the Caribbean.

Environmental conditions are expected to be conducive for “some development” as the system moves slowly northwest over the Caribbean, according to Richard Pasch, a senior hurricane specialist with the National Hurricane Center.

The disturbance has a 60% chance of developing into at least a tropical depression within five days.

If it strengthens into a tropical storm, it will most likely be named Gamma. Forecasters moved to the Greek alphabet in September after using all the available names for the 2020 Atlantic season.

No other tropical cyclones are expected to form in the next five days in the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

The Atlantic hurricane season ends Nov. 30.

See the full outlook.

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Carlie Kollath Wells is a morning reporter at NOLA.com and The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate.