ORLANDO, Fla. _ A tropical depression is expected to form Friday as a northbound system gains momentum in the Gulf of Mexico, while a new system was detected in the east Atlantic, according to the National Hurricane Center's 8 a.m. update.
The low pressure system in the Gulf has become better defined and is showing signs of organization, the NHC said.
The system has a 70% chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next two to five days, but meteorologists expect the depression to form sometime on Friday, said NHC senior hurricane specialist Jack Beven.
If the pressure system can find circular wind flow it will become the 17th tropical depression of the 2019 hurricane season, and if it further strengthens its maximum sustained winds to 39 mph or higher it become Tropical Storm Olga, according to the NHC.
However, its time as a depression could be short-lived as it continues north, where meteorologists expect it to merge with a cold front late Friday or early Saturday and become post-tropical. The storm is forecast to retain gale force winds as it moves north toward Louisiana, Beven said.
Also, a large non-tropical low area of pressure formed Friday morning in the east Atlantic a few hundred miles southwest of the western Azores, Beven said.
The system has a 20% chance of development over the next two to five days, but odds of maturity could increase as it moves east-northeastward into a more ideal environment.
