The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Monday that cloudiness, showers and thunderstorms over the southwestern Caribbean Sea were associated with a surface trough, but there was less than a 30 percent chance the system would develop into a tropical cyclone over the next 48 hours.

The system was, however, expected to produce locally heavy rains over portions of Central America and Jamaica during the next couple of days.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30.

There has been one tropical depression so far this season.

The first named storm of the season will be Ana. Tropical storms pack maximum sustained winds ranging from 39 to 73 miles per hour.

(Reporting by Eileen Moustakis; Editing by John Picinich)