HOLT, Fla., July 8, 2019—The potential of tropical development just off the Gulf Coast for the weekend has increased according to the National Hurricane Center.

The low-pressure trough moving south from central Georgia is forecast to move into the Gulf of Mexico where it is expected to form into a broad area of low pressure.

The NHC now is forecasting an 80 percent chance this will become a tropical depression possibly by Friday once it forms over the warm Gulf waters where water temperature is well in the 80s.

Once over warm water, operational weather models are showing the system moving westward across the northern Gulf toward the Texas Coast, according to the National Weather Service.

Unknown at this time is how far west the system will travel before turning northward back toward land or how intense the system might become.

Should a tropical system form, it will be named Barry.

For now, the biggest impact will be increased showers and thunderstorms along the coast.