On September 21, an area of convection developed in the western Caribbean Sea in association with a trough of low pressure. Convection increased and a broad area of low pressure developed on September 22 as the convection moved northwestward towards the Yucatan Peninsula. On September 23 the area of low pressure moved over the Yucatan Peninsula and was producing thunderstorms from the southern Gulf of Mexico to the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Over the next few days the broad area of low pressure was moving erratically over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico but convection remained limited due to strong upper-level winds. By September 25 upper-level winds started to become more favorable for tropical cyclone formation and by that morning visible satellite imagery indicated that a tropical depression could be forming about 180 mi (290 km) east of Tampico, Mexico.