A pre-hurricane season storm in the Gulf of Mexico is being watched by the National Hurricane Center, which reported only a 30 percent likelihood the system would develop into a named storm in the next 48 hours.
The National Weather Service in Miami posted a tweet Sunday saying a "Tropical Weather Outlook for an area of showers and thunderstorms stretching from western Cuba over to the southeast Gulf of Mexico" had been issued by the NHC, and that "chances of formation over the next 48 hours are low."
The storm would be classified as a tropical depression if it hit a certain threshold, then a tropical storm and finally a hurricane, but at the moment it could only become a more organized storm featuring tropical characteristics as it moves northward across the eastern Gul of Mexico, CNN reported.
The storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall across parts of Florida and the northeastern Gulf Coast, regardless of whether it intensifies or not, the National Hurricane Center reported.
The 2018 Atlantic Hurricane season officially starts on June 1 and if this storm were to develop into a tropical storm, it would technically be an early arrival, CNN said, although it’s not uncommon for named tropical systems to develop as early as April, CNN said.
The heavy rainfall may come as a welcome reprieve to the drought that is currently gripping parts of the U.S. as average temperatures continue to climb above normal in most parts of the country, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported.
Meanwhile, a widespread storm crossed the United States from Texas to Pennsylvania on Sunday, UPI reported, part of a stormy pattern spreading from the Great plains states to the Northeast. The weather pattern is expected to stay in place for most of the week.
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