Tropical Depression 17 forms in Gulf of Mexico

An area of showers and thunderstorms over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, became the 17th tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season Friday morning. Another feature is being watched near the Azores.

AccuWeather meteorologists say that two separate storms have formed in the Gulf of Mexico. The first of which is located closer to the United States coastline and it is expected to remain non-tropical in nature, according to Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather's top hurricane expert. However, it will unleash a rainstorm across the South through Friday before it eventually moves on to impact the Midwest and Northeast.

The storm farther south is the one that has developed tropical characteristics.

"There is only a very short window for strengthening before Tropical Depression 17 merges with a cold front, becomes non-tropical and moves inland later Friday night," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.

"The system will not have a lot of time to strengthen before moving onshore, so the feature will not become a hurricane," Douty added.

There is another rapidly strengthening storm near the Azores, over the middle of the Atlantic. This feature may also gather tropical or subtropical storm status.

The next two names on the Atlantic list are Olga and Pablo if it strengthens into a tropical or subtropical storm.

Even if the feature over the Gulf of Mexico fails to become a tropical storm, moisture associated with it will tend to stream northward into the Deep South and enhance the rainfall in part of the region. The enhanced downpours could lead to numerous flooding incidents, even in areas experiencing long-term drought.

A satellite image showing Tropical Depression 17, which formed over the Gulf of Mexico on Friday, October 25, 2019. (AccuWeather)

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) released a special outlook for the system in the Bay of Campeche, or the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, on Thursday morning as it showed signs of gathering some rotation.

The NHC said that it would initiate advisories of the system beginning at 10:30 a.m. EDT Friday.

The last time a storm formed over the Gulf of Mexico this late in the season was when Juan took shape in 1985, according to Philip Klotzbach, a Colorado State University meteorologist.

AccuWeather meteorologists expect the center of the system to move ashore along the Louisiana coast Friday night.

Regardless of whether or not the system becomes tropical storm, it will send copious amounts of rain and gusty thunderstorms northward from the central Gulf coast and the lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys as it merges with the non-tropical storm in the region from Friday to Saturday.

The AccuWeather RealImpact™ Scale for Hurricanes is less-than-one for this storm and is based on the amount of rain to fall over the South Central states with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 6 inches.

Download the free AccuWeather app to see the latest forecast for your region. Keep checking back for updates on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.