MIAMI (REUTERS, NYTIMES) - Tropical Storm Hanna has formed in the Gulf of Mexico and could strengthen further before weakening upon landfall in Texas by Saturday (July 25), the US National Hurricane Centre said on Thursday (July 23).

Hanna, the eighth named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, was packing maximum sustained winds of 65kmh and located about 620km east-southeast of Port O'Connor in Texas, the Miami-based forecaster said.

Another storm, Gonzalo, is expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the 2020 Atlantic season as early as Friday, Singapore time, forecasters said.

The system, which became a tropical storm on Wednesday, was over the central Atlantic and moving west at 22kmh with maximum sustained winds of 100kmh, according to the National Weather Service.

Hurricane watches were issued for Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines. The storm is expected to move west to north-west and into the eastern Caribbean early next week.