Tropical Storm Watch Issued for Parts of Texas and Mexico As Depression Develops

MIAMI (AP) _ A tropical storm watch was issued late Tuesday for parts of Texas and Mexico as a tropical depression formed in the central Gulf of Mexico. <br/><br/>At 11 p.m. EDT, the fifth depression of

Tuesday, August 14th 2007, 10:18 pm

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ A tropical storm watch was issued late Tuesday for parts of Texas and Mexico as a tropical depression formed in the central Gulf of Mexico.

At 11 p.m. EDT, the fifth depression of the Atlantic hurricane season was centered about 425 miles east-southeast of Brownsville, Texas, and about 425 miles east of La Pesca, Mexico.

The depression is moving toward the northwest at nearly 10 mph. It was expected to turn west-northwest by late Wednesday. Maximum sustained winds were near 30 mph. A tropical storm has winds of at least 39 mph.

The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch for the Texas coast from Freeport southward. The government of Mexico has issued a tropical storm watch for the northwest coast of Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.

A tropical storm watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dean got a little stronger late Tuesday but still remained far from land, forecasters said.

At 11 p.m. EDT, the storm was centered about 1,295 miles east of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center. It had top sustained winds of 50 mph, up from 40 mph earlier in the day. Some strengthening was expected within the next day.

Dean was moving over increasingly warmer waters, where atmospheric conditions could create a favorable environment for intensification into a hurricane by Friday, forecasters said. It was cruising west at about 18 mph. Forecasters said it was too early to tell where Dean will go.

Hurricanes have sustained winds of at least 74 mph.

Hurricane forecasters expect this year's Atlantic hurricane season to be busier than average. Last week, they said as many as 16 tropical storms were likely to form, with nine strengthening into hurricanes.

The season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, but August typically marks the start of the most active period. Ten tropical storms developed in the Atlantic last year, but only two made landfall in the United States.