Tropical Storm Dorian could become first hurricane of season

Tropical Storm Dorian was barreling toward the Caribbean Monday afternoon. It could hit Barbados Tuesday and Puerto Rico by late Wednesday. A hurricane watch has been issued for the island nation of St. Lucia.

Forecasters said the fourth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season strengthened overnight as it moved toward the Lesser Antilles. The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami described the storm as a “small tropical cyclone” but said Dorian was expected to intensify to near hurricane strength by the time it passes the Windward Islands Tuesday. The storm is expected to be a full-blown hurricane by the time it moves near Puerto Rico.

As of 11 a.m. ET Monday, Dorian’s maximum sustained winds remained at around 60 mph. To be classified as a hurricane, the storm must have sustained winds of at least 74 mph.

Dorian’s center was located about 135 miles east-southeast of Barbados and 245 miles east-southeast of St. Lucia and was moving west-northwest at about 14 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extended outward up to 45 miles from the center of the storm.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for Barbados, Martinique, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A tropical storm watch was in effect for Dominica, Saba, St. Eustatius, Grenada and its dependencies. The hurricane center expects tropical storm conditions to appear in the watch areas by Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within 36 hours while a tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours.

Dorian is expected to drop 3 to 8 inches of rain across the Windward Islands, Martinique and St. Vincent. Isolated areas across the northern Windward Islands could possibly see 10 inches.

The National Weather Service office in Tampa Bay tweeted Sunday it’s “too early to speculate” if Dorian will impact Florida. The weather service tweeted four key messages after the hurricane center’s 11 a.m. ET advisory.