COVINGTON, Ga. — Less than a month after Tropical Storm Irma soaked Georgia, another Gulf storm threatens to bring heavy rain to Newton County.

Tropical Depression 16 formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, and it’s expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Nate sometime Thursday.

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the storm was centered about 55 miles west of San Andres Island and had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. The National Hurricane Center warned of potential life-threatening flash floods and mudslides over portions of Central America.

The National Weather Service office in Atlanta said the storm could make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast by Sunday. Heavy rains and gusty winds are increasingly likely in the north Georgia area by late this weekend, the weather service said.

Hurricane Irma weakened to a tropical storm by the time it roared through Georgia on Sept. 11. The storm still caused widespread power outages, lasting nearly a week in some cases. More than a million electric customers across Georgia were in the dark at some point during the storm.

Peak wind gusts of 41 mph were recorded in Covington during Irma, and more than 3.5 inches of rain fell across the county over a two-day period.