A system in northeastern Gulf of Mexico has formed into a tropical depression, the National Hurricane Center said Thursday afternoon.
The NHC said the system was expected to remain offshore and short-lived, and due to the relatively small size of its wind field, did not issue any watches or warnings.
However, forecasters noted there was a small window of opportunity over the next 12-24 hours for the depression to intensify into the season's first named storm, Arlene.
While the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season officially began Thursday, this system was designated Tropical Depression Two due to a disturbance in January being retroactively deemed an unnamed subtropical cyclone, thus becoming the year's first official storm.
The season ends on November 30.