Tropical depression forms in Gulf, National Hurricane Center says - USA Today

What the report says

USA Today reported that a tropical depression formed in the Gulf of Mexico on July 19 and was still moving near Florida’s Gulf Coast late July 20, according to updates from the National Hurricane Center. As of the center’s 5 p.m. ET advisory, the system had sustained winds of about 35 mph and was positioned roughly 105 miles south of Panama City, Florida.

Forecasters expected the depression to strengthen into a tropical storm later July 20 as it approached the Gulf Coast, including the Florida Panhandle and coastal Alabama. If it reached tropical-storm strength, USA Today noted it would be named Bertha, making it the second named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season after Tropical Storm Arthur in June. Hurricane hunter aircraft were scheduled to examine the system during evening flights.

Tropical storm watches were in effect from the Ochlockonee River in Florida westward to the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish border in Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said. Residents and officials in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana were advised to keep monitoring the system, with high winds and heavy rain expected. The hurricane center also warned that flash flooding could be possible from western Florida to the Texas coast.

USA Today added context that a tropical depression has organized low pressure and thunderstorms with maximum sustained winds below 39 mph; it becomes a tropical storm once winds become more organized and reach at least 39 mph. The report also cited forecasts that Saharan dust and wind shear were likely to limit the system’s ability to become a hurricane.