A broad area of low pressure, moved across the Yucatan Peninsula Thursday, and forecasters say there’s a 50 percent chance it will become a tropical system during the next 48 hours as it enters the southern Gulf of Mexico.

The low is forecast to move toward the central Gulf, the NHC said yesterday.

Whether or not the system develops into a tropical storm, Andalusia and Covington County should expect a wet weekend. There is a 60 percent chance of rain this morning through Saturday night, and a 30 percent chance of rain on Saturday, according to the National Weather Center’s forecast.

Meanwhile, a system off the coast of Africa increased to tropical storm strength yesterday. The now-named Tropical Storm Erin is moving west across the Atlantic, and National Hurricane Center forecasters say the system is likely to strengthen over the next 48 hours.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph, according to the NHC’s 5 p.m. ET forecast.

Erin was centered about 245 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and is moving west-northwest at 14 mph, a direction forecasters say it will likely stay on for the next few days.