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Tropical disturbance could form in the Gulf this week

We're watching for tropical development in the Gulf
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WACO, TX — The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1st through November 30th, so we're already underway, and Mother Nature is wasting no time in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico, but it doesn't appear this will become a major system. With that said, we may get some additional moisture streaming into Texas ahead of a disturbance in the southwest US. This could bring some heavy rain to the area Wednesday and Thursday. We will track the latest for you as we head through this week!

We're monitoring a broad area of low pressure over the Bay of Campeche. Showers and thunderstorms have increased since Sunday, but the area still lacks a well-defined circulation. Still, the National Hurricane Center is giving this area a 60 percent chance of tropical development in the next 48 hours.

The forecast calls for tropical development as the system generally moves northwestward toward the northeastern coast of Mexico. With the potential to become a tropical cyclone, the system will eventually move inland and fall apart. But regardless of tropical development and overall track, Central Texans need to gear up for some heavy rain heading toward mid-week.

Tropical moisture will be spreading across the state, and storm chances pick up to 70-80% for our region by Wednesday. While the overall severe storm threat looks to be on the lower side, the heavy rainfall threat will be increasing along with the flooding threat. As with any tropical system, there's still a lot of uncertainty this far out but we will keep you updated here and on-air, as well.

If this system does become a tropical cyclone, it will be named Barry.