A newly formed depression in the Caribbean could enter the Gulf of Mexico as Tropical Sara next week, potentially reducing the chances it could pose a threat to Florida later in the week.

Potential Tropical Cyclone Eighteen is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Rafael on Monday as it continues to organize near Jamaica, according to the latest update from the National Hurricane Center.

The 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane was likely to flood parts of Central America and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula over the coming days.

The Yucatán Peninsula is bracing for intense rainstorms on Thursday as Hurricane Rafael heads for Mexico's Gulf Coast, where it will linger.

Later this week and over the weekend, weakened steering currents are likely to cause the system to meander offshore or along the coast of Central America. Toward the end of the forecast period, a front moving into the western Gulf of Mexico is expected to shift the storm to a northwestward track.

A tropical depression that forecasters expect to form in the Caribbean Sea within the next week is forecast to reach the Gulf of Mexico early next week, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season refuses to quit. Invest 99 in the Caribbean has a high chance of becoming a tropical depression and tropical storm by the weekend. Most reliable modeling suggests a move to the Gulf of Mexico next week with some impacts possible across the Florida Peninsula.