TD 9 to Become Tropical Storm Later Today

Tropical Depression Nine is still fighting for its life in the Gulf. While it still has some wind shear to fight, the system may find the strength to develop into a tropical storm later today. The storm is expected also to take a turn to the East today and set it on a path across Florida and well away from our part of the weather map. the system will be packing some gusty winds and heavy rain which we just plain don't need.

This latest system was first designated a tropical depression Sunday after a Hurricane Hunter reconnaissance mission finally found a sufficiently organized low-pressure center with collocated shower and thunderstorm activity.

Tropical Depression Nine was centered over 300 miles west of Key West, Florida, as of this morning. It remains to be seen how much wind shear will relax in the eastern Gulf of Mexico this week, and some dry air is lurking near the system, as well. Both will have a big bearing on how strong this tropical cyclone can ultimately become before its Gulf Coast landfall.

The threat of heavy rainfall is not a function of tropical cyclone intensity, but rather the system's slow movement and availability of deep, tropical moisture, as we saw with an unnamed system earlier this month triggering Louisiana's epic flooding.

We'll keep you posted on everything having to do with this and all future tropical weather throughout the hurricane season.

One of the best sites when it comes to keeping up with weather during hurricane season is Weather Underground. Here's a link to that site.