MIAMI (Reuters) – Tropical Storm Tomas formed in the Atlantic on a track threatening the Caribbean’s central Windward Islands, while further north Tropical Storm Shary headed for the British island territory of Bermuda.
Tomas, the 19th storm of the very active 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, was forecast to strengthen and could become a hurricane by Sunday, the US National Hurricane Center said.
It had top sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 kph), and at 5 p.m. EDT/2100 GMT, was located about 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Barbados, the easternmost island of the Caribbean region.
It was expected to bring heavy rain and strong winds to the Windward Islands and parts of northern Venezuela in the next few days, the hurricane center said. Forecast models saw it moving through the central Windward Islands on Saturday into the eastern Caribbean Sea.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Martinique, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada.
To the north in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Shary, carrying top sustained winds of 65 miles per hour (100 kph), was expected to pass near Bermuda late yesterday or early today, the US National Hurricane Center said.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for the British overseas island territory, which is a popular resort and global insurance hub. Shary posed no threat to oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.
A busy 2010 Atlantic hurricane season has produced 10 hurricanes, five of them major, but the United States has escaped a significant hurricane landfall so far.