Science & Health

NHC: Tropical Storm Beryl Could Become Hurricane by Saturday

FILE - A man crosses an abnormally empty street in downtown Bridgetown, as a tropical storm approaches the Caribbean island of Barbados, July 9, 2013. Tropical Storm Beryl is now racing toward the small islands of the Lesser Antilles, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday.

Tropical Storm Beryl is strengthening over the tropical Atlantic and could become a hurricane by Friday or Saturday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Thursday.

Beryl is about 1,295 miles (2,080 km) east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean Sea and contains maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (85 km/h), the NHC said in its latest advisory.

"The center of Beryl will remain east of the Lesser Antilles through Sunday," the Miami-based weather forecaster added.