Hurricane Rafael was downgraded to a tropical storm as it continued westward in the Gulf of Mexico posing no threat to land for now while the National Hurricane Center kept track of another system with low odds to develop into the next tropical depression or storm.

National Hurricane Center. Forecasters say it will be a hurricane by the time it enters the southeast Gulf of Mexico by Tuesday night. The Lower and Middle Florida Keys from Key West of the Channel 5 bridge are now under a Tropical Storm Watch.

Rafael has weakened to a tropical storm and was expected to dissolve over the Gulf of Mexico in the coming days after barreling across Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane.

Later this week and over the weekend, weakened steering currents are likely to cause the system to meander offshore or along the coast of Central America. Toward the end of the forecast period, a front moving into the western Gulf of Mexico is expected to shift the storm to a northwestward track.

A tropical depression that forecasters expect to form in the Caribbean Sea within the next week is forecast to reach the Gulf of Mexico early next week, forecasters with the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday.

The National Hurricane Center forecasts Tropical Storm Sara could get into the Gulf of Mexico after swamping Central America and crossing over Mexico.