MEXICO CITY (AP) _ The first tropical depression of the year formed Monday in the Pacific off the coast of Acapulco, but was not expected to hit land.

The depression, with winds gusting at about 35 mph, was expected  to move west-northwest over the next few days and to stay away from  the Mexican coast, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center  in Miami.

The depression was forecast to strengthen, though, in which case  it could take a more northerly track toward the coast, possibly  becoming a tropical storm later Monday.

Storms are classified as tropical depressions when their winds  are below 39 mph, tropical storms when the winds range from 39 to  73 mph, and hurricanes when the winds exceed 73 mph.

Monday's tropical depression marked the first storm of the  eastern Pacific hurricane season, which officially begins June 1.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has predicted  11 tropical storms this year, seven of which will be hurricanes,  three of them major.

The La Nina cooling of water in the Pacific Ocean _ the same  condition that influenced the 1999 season _ remains in place this  year, officials said.