Gulf Depression Nine Forecast to Strengthen Into Hurricane

Tropical Depression Nine formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, October 6, and the National Hurricane Center forecast it would strengthen into a tropical storm by early Wednesday and a hurricane by Thursday. The system’s eventual strength, path and landfall impacts remained uncertain, and no coastal watches or warnings had been issued in the cited advisories. At 4 p.m. Tuesday, the depression was about 630 miles southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph, moving east at about 5 mph, the hurricane center said. The agency forecast the system to continue east to east-northeast before turning northeast toward the northern Gulf Coast. Its first advisory did not establish a precise landfall location. The hurricane center forecast 3 to 6 inches of rain from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle from Friday through the weekend, with localized totals reaching as much as 10 inches. It said flash and urban flooding, as well as isolated river flooding, would be possible. The rainfall amounts and flooding were forecasts, not reported impacts. The storm’s track could also bring moisture and rain into parts of the Southeast.