What was once known as Tropical Storm Erin has now been downgraded to a tropical depression.
Eric ran into cooler air and drier weather in its path, and as a result, has been gradually weakening. It continues to slowly spin west-northwestward in the eastern Atlantic, reports AccuWeather.com.
Erin was spotted about 430 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph as she headed to the west-northwest at 16 mph.
Meanwhile, forecasters warn that a broad area of low pressure has moved over the Yucatan Peninsula and should enter the Gulf of Mexico on Friday. This system has a 50 percent of becoming a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours, and developing into what would be named Hurricane Fernand.
Whether or not it becomes a named storm, heavy rain is likely this weekend somewhere along the northern Gulf Coast, says hurricane center spokesman Dennis Feltgen, reports USA Today.
Although there are many paths the disturbance could take, a route into the central Gulf Coast appears most likely, reports AccuWeather meteorologist Courtney Spamer. "This puts locations between central Louisiana east to the Florida Panhandle most at risk."
The storm could then stall over the Southeast and lead to additional flooding, she adds. The flood threat will likely be greatest from the Florida Panhandle into parts of Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.
"Regardless of its development, we expect heavy rain with the tropical system," said Jason Beaman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile. "And we don't need any rain at all right now."
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