Miami ? A tropical depression in the Caribbean headed toward Florida on Saturday and was expected to become the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season.

The depression formed earlier in the day, nine days after the official start of the season, but the poorly organized system was not expected to become a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 10 p.m., the depression was centered over the eastern Gulf of Mexico about 290 miles west southwest of Key West, Fla., or about 440 miles south of Apalachicola, Fla., forecasters said. It was moving north-northwest near 9 mph.

The system could make landfall Monday or Tuesday somewhere between south Florida and the western tip of the Panhandle, forecasters said.