The National Hurricane Center has upped the chances of a tropical disturbance becoming a named storm over the next seven days to 50 percent.
The trough of low pressure is currently over land but could emerge over the western gulf off of the Texas coast late Tuesday or Wednesday, forecasters said.
"Environmental conditions there are marginally conducive for the formation of a short-lived tropical storm on Wednesday into Thursday," said senior hurricane specialist Eric Blake.
The system has a 40 percent chance of development over the next two days and a 50 percent chance over the next seven.
And whether it becomes a depression or Tropical Storm Arthur or not, the northern Gulf Coast is in for possibly intense rainfall over the next several days.
