Satellite imagery of thunderstorms formed in a low pressure system in the Bay of Campeche in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico indicates the formation of the 13th tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center announced this morning.

The National Hurricane Center this morning issued a special tropical disturbance statement about a low pressure system just south of Puerto Rico that could develop into a tropical depression by later today.

Even as New Orleans area residents continue to make their way home from their Gustavacations, Hurricane Ike-o is threatening to curve its way into the central Gulf of Mexico by Thursday as a strong Category 3 with sustained winds of 127 mph.

Rain bands from Tropical Depression Gustav are spinning across Louisiana, and there's still a chance that some will cross through the New Orleans area today.

Tropical Depression 10 became Tropical Storm Josephine just off the coast of Africa, as its maximum sustained winds grew to 40 mph.

Persistent easterly winds surrounding Tropical Depression Gustav are pushing water up against the Louisiana shoreline this morning, prompting a coastal flood warning until 10 a.m. that also includes Lake Pontchartrain.

Gustav weakened into a tropical depression early Tuesday as it moved slowly into northwestern Louisiana.

At noon, the center of Hurricane Gustav was 10 miles southeast of Morgan City, moving northwest at near 15 mph, with top winds of 105 mph.

Hurricane Gustav, now a Category 2 hurricane with 110 mph winds, is moving northwest onto the central coast of Louisiana, about 70 miles southwest of New Orleans and just west- southwest of Cocodrie.

At 5:30 a.m., the National Weather service reported that the U.S. Geological Survey tide station in northeast Bay Gardene near Pointe a la Hache had risen nearly 9 feet since last night.

Hurricane Gustav remains poised to begin a final thrust northwest toward the Louisiana coast, with a landfall expected just south of Houma before noon as a strong Category 3 hurricane with winds as high as 120 mph.

Let me begin this jaunt into the back rooms of hurricane preparedness by explaining that I have not talked to Mayor Ray Nagin, nor asked for a comment from him for this blog entry.

Expect deteriorating weather throughout the evening as the first outer bands of Hurricane Gustav begin moving over the city.

Talk to TP's Mark Schleifstein as Hurricane Gustav approaches Gulf Coast.

The projected path for Hurricane Gustav edged a tiny bit closer to New Orleans, according to the National Hurricane Center's 4 a.m. forecast, with the storm still expected to cross the coastline at Category 4 strength by 1 p.m. Monday.