MIAMI, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The 17th tropical depression of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season formed on Wednesday and was expected to strengthen into a storm or perhaps even a hurricane on a path that could threaten the Cayman Islands and Cuba, U.S. forecasters said.

The depression, which would be called Tropical Storm Paloma when its top sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour (64 kph), was 115 miles (185 km) southeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border, at 4 p.m. EST (2100 GMT), the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. (Reporting by Michael Christie, Editing by Jim Loney and Peter Cooney)

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