A tropical depression is likely to form in the Gulf of Mexico this week and bring heavy rain to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, hurricane forecasters said Monday morning.

As of 7 a.m. Monday, there was an 80% chance of a tropical depression forming within five days, the National Hurricane Center said. The system categories, in increasing strength, are tropical depression, tropical storm and hurricane.

It's still too early to predict the track of the potential storm, but New Orleans city officials on Twitter said they are monitoring the system.

State, city officials urge residents to 'get a game plan’ this hurricane season When it comes to hurricane season, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday (June 13) the state has been fortunate in the past few years.…

On the NHC forecast graphic released Monday morning, a large section of the northern Gulf of Mexico is shaded in red. The shaded area, from Louisiana's coast to Florida's panhandle, is where the system could develop. It does not reflect a potential track.

The National Weather Service office in Slidell said the greatest concerns with this system appear to be heavy rain, high tides and strong winds, regardless of development.

This system is different from the typical development seen in the Gulf. Instead of starting in the Atlantic or the Caribbean, it is starting over land in the Mid-South.

Forecasters on Monday morning were watching a trough of low pressure over central Georgia that is expected to move south to the Gulf of Mexico, where a broad area of low pressure is expected to form in a couple of days. Gradual development is possible, forecasters said, and a tropical depression is likely to form by the end of the week.

There's a 10% chance of a tropical depression forming within 48 hours and an 80% chance of formation within 5 days.

If it strengthens to a tropical storm, it will be named Barry.

Read the full advisory from the National Hurricane Center.