Ahead of the official start of hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center is watching an area of showers and thunderstorms in the central Gulf of Mexico.
"Environmental conditions appear only marginally favorable for additional development over the next several days as the system meanders over the eastern Gulf of Mexico," said NHC forecasters. "The system is then forecast to move across the Florida Peninsula this weekend and emerge into the southwestern Atlantic Ocean by early next week. Regardless of development, the system could produce heavy rainfall and gusty winds over portions of the Florida Peninsula later this week."
The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins on Thursday and runs through November 30.
NOAA is calling for a near-normal season, with 12-17 named storms and 5-9 hurricanes, of which 1-4 could become major category 3 or greater storms.