Gulf storm now "less likely" to become cyclone: NHC

MIAMI (Reuters) - The chance that a low pressure system in the north central Gulf of Mexico could develop into a tropical cyclone was becoming "less likely" on Saturday as it approached land, U.S. forecasters said.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center updated an earlier bulletin which had predicted that the low had a "high" chance of becoming the first named storm of the six-month Atlantic hurricane season, which officially begins on June 1.

"Additional development of this system is becoming less likely ... since the center will be moving onshore later this morning or early afternoon," the Miami-based hurricane center said. It located the low pressure area about 75 miles south of Mobile, Alabama.

"There is now a low chance ... less than 30 percent ... of this system becoming a tropical cyclone before it reaches the coast later today," the NHC added.

It said it had canceled a scheduled mission by an Air Force reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft to investigate the system, which could nevertheless still bring heavy rains and occasionally gusty winds to parts of the north-central and northeast Gulf coast.

(Reporting by Pascal Fletcher)