Tropical Depression forms WSW of Grand Cayman

A tropical depression formed near Mexico and Cuba that could head toward Louisiana again.

As of 5 p.m. ET Saturday, it was moving north-northwest at about 2 mph and was centered about 255 miles south-southeast of the western tip of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph.

The system is expected to become a tropical storm Sunday and could become a hurricane over the southern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, the National Hurricane Center said.

"Although the forecast shows the system reaching hurricane strength in the southern Gulf of Mexico, this is rather uncertain given the potential land interaction and only a narrow area of favorable upper-level winds," National Hurricane Center senior hurricane specialist Eric Blake said.

As of Saturday, the center said the storm will likely weaken the cyclone below hurricane strength, but strong tropical storms can produce significant storm surge, rainfall and wind impacts.

"Residents in this region will yet again need to monitor another tropical cyclone moving northward across the Gulf," Blake said.

The depression would become Tropical Storm Zeta, marking the deepest into the Greek alphabet named storms have gone.

Here in the Cayman Islands, the National Weather Service has advised a broad area of low pressure just southwest of Grand Cayman is expected to support cloudy rainy conditions and isolated thunderstorms across the area for the next 24 hours. Showers are expected to be heavy at times. A flood warning is in effect for the Cayman Islands.

A flood warning is in effect for the Cayman Islands.

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday states that there will be cloudy to partly cloudy skies with a 60% chance showers and thunder. Showers may become locally heavy at times leading to possible flooding of low lying areas.