As expected, a tropical storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico Friday. What was possibly not expected is that the storm would receive a Greek letter for its name, and on top of that, it's the second on the list.
Tropical Storm Beta was located about 280 miles east-southeast of the mouth of the Rio Grande Friday afternoon. It was originally thought the system would get the Wilfred moniker, but was leapfrogged by a storm in the tropical Atlantic Friday morning, then a few hours later, a system off the coast of Portugal was named Subtropical Storm Alpha.
Beta's north-northeastward motion will eventually shift hard left, with a west to northwest trend that could bring the system close to the Texas coast as a hurricane by Monday.
No direct impacts to Louisiana from Beta are expected over the weekend, though indirect impacts in terms of wind gusts and a few strong showers along the Louisiana coast can't be ruled out.