MOULTRIE, Ga. — Nearly 24 years ago Georgia got a lengthy visit from Tropical Storm Alberto, one that residents along much of the Flint River and its tributaries will always remember.

This holiday weekend there could be another Alberto bringing rain to the state, but at this point officials don’t expect anything like the massive flooding its namesake brought in 1994.

“This developing system will have a tough time strengthening while over land most of Friday,” according to Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather hurricane expert. “However, once over water it should develop into an organized tropical or subtropical storm during the weekend.”

If the system does reach tropical-storm strength, it would be the first named storm of the season as Alberto. At the least it looks to be a damper on the holiday weekend and beyond.

The cone of the system’s path as of Thursday afternoon, when it was over the Yucatan Peninsula, put it making landfall anywhere from around New Orleans to Tallahassee.

Any wind event is expected to be limited to the coasts, which also could have high surf conditions.

Based on predictions from Georgia officials on Thursday the system is not expected to be much of a problem, said Russell Moody, Colquitt County emergency management director.

“They’re just talking rain,” he said. “Over the weekend through Wednesday we’re expecting anywhere from three to seven inches.”

No flooding is predicted if the rain is in that range and falls over several days’ time.

“They’re also anticipating there could be some weather on the eastern side that could weaken that rainfall,” Moody said. “It’s just wait and see.”

Local and state emergency officials will be following the storm and giving updated information as necessary, he said.

The Peachtree City National Weather Service office has a flash flood watch in effect for Thursday through Saturday morning from the Americus area north to above Gainesville, and from the Chattahoochee River nearly to the coast.

In the Moultrie area, the agency’s Tallahassee office predicts varying chances of showers and thunderstorms from Thursday evening through Wednesday. No weather alerts had been announced as of Thursday afternoon.

On Thursday the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that it expects either a near- or above-normal Atlantic hurricane season.

It predicted a 70 percent chance of having 10 to 16 named storms — winds of 39 miles per hour or greater — with five to nine possible hurricanes and one to four major hurricanes. Major hurricanes are those in category 3 or higher, with sustained winds of no less than 111 miles an hour.

An average hurricane season produces 12 named storms, half of which become hurricanes, including three major hurricanes, according to NOAA.