Storm in Caribbean likely to form today

The first tropical storm of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season was expected to form in the western Caribbean on Saturday and move towards Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, the US National Hurricane Center said.

A tropical depression was located 285 miles (460 km) east-southeast of Chetumal, Mexico and moving at 9 mph (15 kph) on a path that would take it over Yucatan during the weekend and into the Gulf of Mexico, where BP Plc is trying to contain a massive oil spill.

"The depression is expected to become a tropical storm on Saturday," the US center said late on Friday.

Mexico issued a warning for the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, alerting residents to expect tropical storm conditions within 36 hours. Belize also issued a warning.

Heavy rainfall is expected over Yucatan, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras through Sunday evening and could cause dangerous flash floods and mudslides, the center said.

Tropical depressions, swirling masses of thunderstorms, become tropical storms when their sustained winds reach 39 mph (63 kph).

The depression was expected to weaken over Yucatan, but gather force again as it emerged over the warm waters of the southern Gulf of Mexico. But it was not expected to strengthen into a hurricane during the five-day forecast period. 

It was too early to know whether the weather system could threaten oil and natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico, or whether it could affect clean-up operations from the BP oil disaster.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 and meteorologists predict this year will be a very active one. Hurricanes feed on warm water and sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic are higher than usual this year.