(RNN) - Tropical Storm Cindy has formed in the Gulf of Mexico.
Forecasters said the system will reach the Gulf Coast by Thursday, with little strengthening possible.
The National Hurricane Center extended the Tropical Storm Warning westward to High Island, TX, and the Tropical Storm Watch from west of High Island to San Luis Pass, TX.
Located about 265 miles south of Morgan City, LA, and 355 miles southeast of Galveston, TX, Cindy is stationary, packing winds of 45 mph.
Forecasters expect it to resume a northwest track at about 10 mph.
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from Cameron, LA, to the mouth of the Pearl River. A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for west of Cameron, LA, to San Louis Pass, TX.
Storm surges are expected of 1 to 3 feet above ground level and possible tornadoes from south-central Louisiana to the western Florida Panhandle.
The National Hurricane Center said that interest from the Texas coast to the Florida Panhandle should monitor this storm.
Weather threats associated with this storm include storm surge of one to three feet, rainfall of four to eight inches in portions of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida with some heavier downpours possible in isolated areas and the possibility of tornadoes.
Tropical storm-force winds are expected to reach the warning area by late Tuesday.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic basin, Tropical Storm Bret is forecast to weaken as it churns off the coast of South America, 185 miles east-southeast of Curacao.
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for Bonaire, Curacao and Aruba.
The storm is moving swiftly west at 23 mph as it brushes past the northern coast of South America.
Bret is encountering an upper-level trough in the Caribbean, and it will eventually degrade to a tropical depression before dissipating over the western Caribbean.
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