Tropical depression could form behind Hurricane Beryl in Atlantic, NHC says: Could it impact Florida?

Hurricane Beryl nears Caribbean with deadly winds, storm surge

Hurricane Beryl is taking aim at the Windward Islands and is expected to bring life-threatening winds and storm surge to the area on Monday morning, the National Hurricane Center said.

ORLANDO, Fla. - The National Hurricane Center is tracking a disturbance in the central Atlantic that could develop into a tropical depression later this week on the heels of Hurricane Beryl.

The disturbance, called Invest AL96, is located about 1,000 miles east-southeast of the Windward Islands. It's currently producing showers and thunderstorms in the middle of the Atlantic, where environmental conditions appear to be somewhat favorable for the development of this system.

Forecasters said a tropical depression could form by the middle of this week as it moves toward the west at 15 to 20 mph across the Atlantic. There's a medium chance (50%) of the disturbance developing over the next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Lesser Antilles, which extends from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, should keep an eye on this potential tropical depression. It's too early to tell what, if any, impacts this disturbance could bring to East Central Florida, according to the National Weather Service office in Melbourne.

Should this storm develop into a named storm, it would be called Debby.

Hurricane Beryl formed over the weekend and made landfall on Carriacou Island on Monday morning as an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm.

"At this time, the forecast favors a track through the Caribbean, to the south of Florida," NWS Melbourne said on Sunday night.

Additionally, Tropical Storm Chris formed late Sunday night in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and made landfall in Mexico just before midnight, the NHC said. It has since dissipated over eastern Mexico.