Record-warm ocean heat is lingering in the Gulf and Caribbean, but it’s too soon to tell where the likely system could strike, experts say.

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.

An area of low pressure near the Gulf of Mexico is likely to form into a tropical depression next week, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Forecasters are continuing to watch a low pressure system in the Caribbean Sea that could develop into a tropical system by the middle of next week. The system is currently a large cluster of scrambled thunderstorms in the northwestern Caribbean Sea and southern Gulf of Mexico.

A tropical disturbance in the Caribbean Sea could become a tropical depression next week as it approaches the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical weather outlookAn area of low pressure in the Northwestern Caribbean Sea will likely form by the early or middle of next week, with slow development possible. The system is expected to move north or northwest with a near zero percent formation chance over 48 hours and 60% over seven days.