Tracking The Tropics: Tropical Storm Nicholas Forms In Gulf

MIAMI (CBSMiami) - There are a few areas to watch in the tropics this Sunday.

Air Force Hurricane Hunters found that the area in the western Gulf of Mexico has gathered together to become Tropical Storm Nicholas late Sunday morning.

Nicholas is moving north-northwest.

On the forecast track, the center of Nicholas will pass near or just offshore the coasts of northeastern Mexico and South Texas late Monday, then approach the south or central part of the Texas coast late Monday night.

Slow strengthening is in the forecast for Nicholas in the next day or so but regardless of how strong the system can become or not, heavy rain is expected to reach the Texas and Louisiana coasts late Sunday and the threat for flooding rain will remain through mid-week in these areas.

Moving into the Atlantic, where there are several areas to watch and one will be an area of low pressure that is expected to develop this week, so it hasn't formed yet, to the northeast of the Bahamas.

This area will have at least a medium chance to organize into a tropical depression later in the week and it is possible that it can bring impacts to the mid-Atlantic. Of course, it is too soon to tell what those exact impacts and exact timing will be.

Next, there is a tropical wave moving near the Cabo Verde Islands on this Sunday, but environmental conditions are becoming less and less favorable for development and so this tropical wave will eventually dissipate as it tracks towards the west over the eastern Atlantic Ocean.

However, a new tropical wave will emerge from Africa's west coast and into the eastern Atlantic in a few days and will have a better chance to develop into a tropical depression by mid-week while it moves westward across the eastern tropical Atlantic.

The last area that has a possibility for formation, although it is slim, is a non-tropical low pressure system located in the far northeastern Atlantic Ocean, close by the Azores. The system is forecast to move southward and then eventually inland over Portugal which will end its chances of further development.

Stay tuned to CBS4 and on CBSMiami.com for the latest on the tropics.