Storm systems greet start of Hurricane Season
MIAMI - The six-month Atlantic hurricane season opened Wednesday with storm trackers watching growing systems west and east of Florida.
A system drawing the most attention from the National Hurricane Center was near the Yucatan Peninsula and the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and was a threat to South Florida and the Florida Keys.
While the storm was disorganized, the hurricane center said Wednesday morning that conditions appeared conducive to it becoming a tropical depression during the next couple of days.
"Regardless of development, locally heavy rainfall is likely across portions of southeastern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, and Belize during the next day or so, spreading across western Cuba, South Florida and the Florida Keys on Friday and Saturday," the hurricane center said.
The center listed the chance of formation within 48 hours at 70 percent, with the odds growing to 80 percent over five days. If the system reaches tropical-storm strength, with sustained winds topping 39 mph, it would be named Alex.
A system that was closer to Florida had little chance of developing over the next five days, was producing "disorganized" showers and was moving east-northeast away from the state, according to the hurricane center.
That storm was about 200 miles northeast of the Bahamas.