Forecasters on Monday issued a tropical storm watch for several northeastern Caribbean islands, including Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, St. Barthelemy and St. Maarten.
A tropical storm warning has also been issued for Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center expects the disturbance to become a tropical depression later Monday and then a tropical storm as it approaches the northeastern Caribbean. It is then expected to become a hurricane on Thursday, when it heads north toward Bermuda.
The disturbance, Ernesto, is expected to become the fifth named storm in the region. Atlantic hurricane season.
Meteorologists expect the system to cause flooding and landslides.
Authorities are expecting rain in Guadeloupe on Monday, which will pass near Saint Bartholomew and Saint Martin.
The Miami-based hurricane center expects the disturbance to approach Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands Tuesday evening.
The disturbance is located about 845 kilometers (525 miles) east-southeast of Antigua. Maximum sustained winds are 45 kilometers per hour (30 mph) and it is moving west at 43 km/h (26 mph).
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is forecasting an above-average Atlantic hurricane season this year due to record-breaking warm ocean temperatures. Between 17 and 25 named storms are expected, with four to seven hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
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