13th Tropical Depression of Season in Gulf of Mexico

Havana, Sep 2. – A new tropical depression, the 13th of the current hurricane season, is packing strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico on Friday and threatens to become Tropical Storm Lee in the coming hours.

Cuba's Meteorology Institute has reported that the center of the system at 06:00 local time was at 26.5 degrees North and 91.7 degrees West, 425km south-souteast of Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the southern United States.

The depression packs sustained winds of 55km/h with higher gusts and minimum pressure slightly dropping to 1,006 hP. It was moving slowly in a northwesterly direction at 4km/h.

The weather forecast for the next 24 hours indicates an erratic northwest movement of the depression.

Meanwhile, tropical storm Katia was reported to be 1,205 kilometers north of the the Leeward Islands, and posed no threat for Cuba, nor its neighboring island states.

Katia reached the hurricane category Thursday but was downgraded to storm again.

The most active period of the hurricane season in the Atlantic is Aug. 15-Oct. 10, with a peak around Sept. 10.(Prensa Latina)