The western Caribbean and southern Gulf of Mexico are being closely monitored for potential tropical development next week.

It’s still too soon to say if a tropical disturbance expected to form in the Gulf of Mexico this week could affect Alabama. One of the reasons is it hasn’t even formed yet. But forecasters have reasonable confidence that it will, and it could become a tropical depression, or stronger, and head generally northward later this week.

The Lone Star State is achingly close to exiting the peak window for the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, but we can't turn our backs on the tropics just yet. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is keeping tabs on the potential formation of a low pressure system in the Caribbean Sea that could have tropical implications for the Gulf of Mexico next week.