The National Hurricane Center said Tropical Storm Sara formed in the Caribbean on Thursday and long-term forecast models show it could enter the Gulf

Tropical Storm Sara has formed in the Caribbean Sea and is forecast to continue strengthening, according to the National Hurricane Center.

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.

Tropical Storm Sara officially became a named storm after forming in the Caribbean Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said, and while it’s currently forecasted to impact Central America, there’s a possibility it may head toward the already-battered Gulf coast of Florida.

Forecasters say Tropical Storm Rafael has formed in the Caribbean and will bring heavy rain to Jamaica and the Cayman Islands before strengthening to a hurricane and likely hitting Cuba.

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.

Here’s the latest forecast for South MS on a tropical depression that’s expected to become Tropical Storm Sara.

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.