Crippled Chris hovers near Cuba: MIAMI - Downgraded to a tropical depression, Chris could pump rain into South Florida on Sunday as its passes to the south - but it poses no serious danger, forecasters said.

The storm's center, such as it is, should remain near or even over northern Cuba. But as Chris unravels, its outlying squalls will stretch over a wider area. The South Florida forecast called for scattered showers today, but a 70 percent chance of rain Sunday and Sunday night. "It's a persistent little bugger," said Rusty Pfost, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service's local office. "We're still looking for an enhancement of our thunderstorms, showers and maybe our winds this weekend." Persistent, but also struggling. Whatever rain it produced Friday night as it stumbled through the southeastern Bahamas was concentrated far from the center of circulation - the signature of a disorganized tropical system. Forecasters said hostile crosswinds continued to tear at the storm. Those winds could diminish, but some computerized models suggested that they would essentially destroy Chris within a few days. As a precaution, a tropical storm watch remained posted for Long Island and the Exumas in the Bahamas as Chris breezed toward Cuba. "Interests in Cuba, as well as in southern Florida and the Florida Keys, should monitor the progress of Chris," said forecaster Dan Brown of the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade County.