By PHIL DAVIS

The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. – Most of Florida’s west coast was under a tropical storm watch Sunday as the first named storm of the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season spun over the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to bring heavy rain in the next few days.

By midday, Tropical Storm Alberto had maximum sustained wind near 45 mph, up 10 mph from early in the morning, but it was not likely to grow into a hurricane, the National Hurricane Center said.

Alberto is a lopsided tropical storm with the most intense wind and rains massed on the eastern edge of the system, said Lixion Avila, a senior hurricane specialist. The first of the storm’s rains swept across the Florida peninsula Sunday with no major reports of damage.

Forecasters said that 30 inches of rain could fall over the western half of Cuba, creating a threat of flash floods and mudslides, The Florida Keys and the state’s Gulf Coast could also get 8 inches of rain.

The prospect of a wet storm without hurricane-force wind was welcomed by firefighters who have been battling wildfires for six weeks on Florida’s east coast.

“A good soaking rain would do a lot to help stop the fires in our area,” said Pat Kuehn, a spokeswoman for Volusia County Fire Services. “It has been a hard fire season. We’ve had several fires a week here.”

But, firefighters may not get any relief from Alberto.

“There is no guarantee (Alberto) will make landfall,” said hurricane specialist Richard Pasch.

Last year’s hurricane season was the most destructive on record. Hurricane Katrina devastated Louisiana and Mississippi and was blamed for more than 1,570 deaths among Louisiana residents alone.

It also was the busiest in 154 years of storm tracking, with a records 28 named storms and a record 15 hurricanes. Meteorologists used up their list of 21 proper names and had to use the Greek alphabet to name storms for the first time.

This year, however, meteorologists have said the Atlantic is not as warm as it was at this time in 2005, meaning potential storms would have less of the energy needed to develop into hurricanes.

Scientists say the 2006 season could produce as many as 16 named storms, six of them major hurricanes.

Associated Press Writer Jennifer Kay in Miami contributed to this report.