Tropical storm Gonzalo hopes to become the first hurricane of the season as a new tropical depression forms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Tropical storm Gonzalo, which formed on Wednesday, is expected to become the first hurricane of the season on Thursday. Meanwhile, a tropical depression formed in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to become a tropical storm by Friday, the National Hurricane Center said.

A hurricane watch has been issued for Barbados as Gonzalo is expected to become a hurricane on Thursday and reach a peak in Category 1, CNN meteorologist Robert Shackelford said. Typically, a clock is issued 48 hours before tropical storm-force winds are expected to hit the scene, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical Depression Eight formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night and was located about 425 miles off the coast of Port O’Connor, Texas, Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

With winds of 30 mph, the system is expected to become a tropical storm by Friday, the hurricane center said.

If it does, the storm will be called Tropical Storm Hanna, breaking the record for the first H-named storm set by Tropical Storm Harvey on August 3, 2005.

A tropical storm alert is now in effect from Port Mansfield to High Island, Texas.

Gonzalo sets early records

Tropical Storm Gonzalo marks the earliest a storm has received a name beginning with the letter “G” since the United States began using a named storm system in 1953. On average, the seventh named storm in a season It is September 16.

The previous record for the first named seventh storm formation in the Atlantic was Gert on July 24 during the busiest recorded hurricane season, 2005.

“The tropical Atlantic seems extremely conducive to an active season,” Philip Klotzbach, a research scientist at Colorado State University, told CNN.