National Hurricane Center Upgrades Gulf System to Tropical Depression Two

The National Hurricane Center upgraded a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico west of the Florida peninsula to Tropical Depression Two on July 19, 2026. Satellite-wind data and surface observations confirmed the low was becoming better organized.

Forecasters stated that continued gradual development is expected, with a tropical depression likely to form later that day or on Monday as the system moves slowly northward or northwestward.

The center raised the probability of further development to 80 percent as of Sunday morning and now forecasts the system to become Tropical Storm Bertha, the second named storm of the 2026 Atlantic season. The system began with a discernible mid-level circulation off the west coast of Florida that later developed a broader surface low and banding features on satellite imagery.

Interests along the northern Gulf coast from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi to Louisiana should monitor its progress, forecasters said, because the system is expected to bring heavy rain to portions of that region during the next several days.

A tropical depression is defined by the National Weather Service as a system with organized convection generally 100 to 300 miles in diameter that originates in the tropics or subtropics, maintains a non-frontal migratory character, and keeps its identity for at least 24 hours.

It is upgraded to a tropical storm when maximum sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour. Hurricane chaser Josh Morgerman wrote on Facebook that the cloud pattern shows definite arcing, the low center is turning west, and computer models have become more aggressive with the system.