Tropical Storm Paloma formed in the Caribbean today and could strengthen rapidly into a hurricane on a path threatening storm-weary Cuba, US forecasters said.
The 16th tropical storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season posed no threat to vital US oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico.
But it came in the last month of what experts correctly predicted would be a busier than normal storm season and may bring more grief to Cuba, which is still reeling from two powerful hurricanes that caused more than $5 billion in damage two months ago.
At 10 am (3pm Irish time), Paloma was located 75 miles northeast of Cabo Gracias a Dios on the Nicaragua-Honduras border, the US National Hurricane Center said.
The Miami-based center said Paloma was moving north-northwest at 7 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.
"Steady strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days," it said, adding that Paloma could become a hurricane by Friday.
A hurricane watch was in effect for the Cayman Islands meaning that hurricane conditions, including rainfall totaling up to 12 inches were possible within 36 hours.
Jamaica could also be affected as the storm churned north and then northeastward and the National Hurricane Center said Cuba faced the biggest potential threat.
Computer models varied on the future intensity of the storm. But the hurricane center's official forecast called for it to become a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of at least 74 mph, by early tomorrow.
It was expected to strengthen into a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of at least 96 mph in two days, US forecasters said, adding that it was likely to plow across central Cuba on Sunday before weakening back into a tropical storm as it takes aim at the Bahamas.
The Atlantic storm season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, has seen seven hurricanes so far.
Reuters