The National Hurricane Center is tracking an area of low pressure located over the southeastern United States.
The disturbance is making its way southeast and could muster up strength if and when it reaches the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
“A trough of low pressure over western Kentucky, Tennessee and northern Mississippi is forecast to move over the northeastern Gulf of Mexico where a low pressure area could form early next week. Some gradual development of the system is then possible as it drifts westward over the northern Gulf of Mexico through midweek,” the National Hurricane Center said in a Saturday outlook.
The forecast said there is a 0% chance of cyclone formation over the next 48 hours, but that rises to 20% through the next five days.
NHC is monitoring a system over the W Tennessee Valley that is forecast to move over the NE Gulf of Mexico in a few days, where a low pressure area could form. Some gradual development is then possible as it drifts west through midweek. Keep up to date at https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/1HbJzLEwcc
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) July 6, 2019
So far, it has been a rather quiet Atlantic hurricane season, which officially began on June 1. There has only been one named storm so far, Andrea, which formed into an organized tropical system in May south of Bermuda and quickly petered out.
If the weather system NHC is now tracking develops into a tropical storm, it would be named Barry.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is the parent agency of NHC, predicted in May that the Atlantic hurricane season would be near-normal in 2019. NOAA predicted there would likely be between nine and 15 named storms with winds of 39 miles per hour or higher, four to eight that could become hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher, and two to four major hurricanes that are Category 3, 4, or 5 storms with winds of 111 miles per hour or higher.
In the Pacific Ocean, there has been a little more activity, with three named storms, including Barbara, which had been a powerful Category 4 hurricane but is now a much weaker post-tropical cyclone that is expected to bring heavy rain, strong winds, and high surf to Hawaii in the coming days.
