Tropical depression heading south

UPDATED at 8 a.m. Friday with storm heading south.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - Tropical Depression Two is continuing to move south, with little change in strength, the National Hurricane Center said Friday.

At 5 a.m., the depression was moving toward the south near 5 mph. A southward to southeastward motion at a slightly faster forward speed is expected during the next couple of days.

Maximum sustained winds remain near 35 mph with higher gusts.

Weakening is expected to begin later today, and the system is forecast to degenerate into a remnant low on Saturday.

ABC7′s Chief Meteorologist Bob Harrigan says that it appears that the system will slowly track to the south and not make landfall here. We will however still see heavy rain at times as the system slowly works through the eastern Gulf of Mexico. With a lot of shear we can expect to see some of the convergent bands move into our coast over the next three days.

Expected to move southward toward Cuba(WWSB)

The depression is moving toward the west-northwest toward the Panhandle at about 2 mph. A motion to the south is expected to begin by Friday with gradually increasing forward speed.

Maximum sustained winds are near 35 mph with higher gusts, the center said. Some modest intensification is forecast, and the depression could become a tropical storm tonight or tomorrow.

The system should begin to weaken by Friday night and degenerate into a remnant low by Saturday. The estimated minimum central pressure is 1007 mb (29.74 inches). a NOAA buoy recently reported sustained winds of 36 mph with a gust of 40 mph .

An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft flew into the storm Thursday afternoon to determine whether it is a tropical depression or storm. They are scheduled to fly into it again on Friday if necessary. We will see some showers and thunderstorms spiral around this system into our coast on Friday especially during the afternoon.