The National Hurricane Center (NHC), based in Miami, Florida, reported Thursday the formation of the second tropical depression of 2023 in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.
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According to the most recent NHC bulletin, the tropical depression is moving at 2 mph (4 km/h) in a west-northwesterly direction with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 km/h).
The depression is 305 miles (490 kilometers) west-northwest of Ft. Myers (on the west coast of Florida) and 325 miles (520 kilometers) northwest of Dry Tortugas, at the southern tip of this state, the NHC said.
The trough over the next 12 to 24 hours will begin to move slowly southward. The NHC said the depression could intensify into a tropical storm tonight or tomorrow. However, the system will be short-lived and could weaken in less than 24 hours, it added.
Tropical Depression #Two Advisory 1: Tropical Depression Forms in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Expected to Remain Offshore and Be Short-Lived. https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic)
June 1, 2023
Last January, a subtropical system formed in the northern Atlantic, this depression is the second this year. The official hurricane season began Thursday in the Atlantic basin.
There were 14 named storms in the Atlantic in 2022, of which nine reached hurricane status. Ian was the most dangerous, leaving at least 156 dead in the U.S.
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 5 to 9 storms will become hurricanes in the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, and at least one could be of major intensity.
