RALEIGH, N.C. _ A tropical depression could develop in the Atlantic and make its way off the coast of North Carolina and South Carolina.
The potential tropical system, now considered an "area of low pressure," was roughly 135 miles southeast of Wilmington, North Carolina, as of 2 p.m. Monday, the National Hurricane Center said.
There's a 90% chance a tropical depression will develop by Wednesday afternoon, forecasters say.
"This system continues to become better organized, and a tropical depression is expected to form later today or tonight while the system moves northeastward, near but offshore of the southeastern coast of the United States and then away from land," the National Hurricane Center said Monday afternoon.
The low pressure area could bring additional moisture as a separate front is stalled from the South Carolina shore to the North Carolina mountains. The front carries the potential for showers and thunderstorms on Monday, the National Weather Service in Wilmington said.
A tropical depression is a tropical cyclone that has maximum sustained winds of up to 38 mph.
The potential formation isn't expected to have a major impact on beaches in the Carolinas as Labor Day weekend approaches. The National Weather Service in Wilmington reports "no direct threat of any tropical system through Friday."
The possible tropical depression was one of four disturbances on the National Hurricane Center's map as of Monday afternoon.
"Two systems in the western part of the Atlantic basin are likely to become tropical depressions during the next few days," forecasters said Sunday. "We are also monitoring two other waves over the eastern Atlantic."
The potential activity comes during a busy hurricane season that could bring "up to 25 named storms," the Miami Herald reported. Hurricane Laura left devastating damage near the Texas and Louisiana coasts last week.
