MIAMI, Sept. 30 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Joaquin strengthen into a hurricane early Wednesday as it moves to the central Bahamas, where weather officials issued warnings.
Forecasters anticipate the storm will turn north away from South Florida and possibly up the East Coast.
The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning in the central Bahamas, indicating hurricane conditions are expected in the area within 36 hours. A hurricane watch has been issued for the northwestern Bahamas, not including Andros Island.
Early Wednesday, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
Meteorologists said the storm is moving west-southwest about 6 mph and is expected to move over portions of the central Bahamas on Wednesday into Thursday. It is expected to turn to the west and decrease in forward speed but strengthen in wind speed.
The storm is predicted to dump up to 15 inches of rain on areas that include San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, and Rum Cay in the Bahamas. Three to five inches of rain is expected over the central Bahamas through Friday.
As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 125 miles.
Comment count on this article reflects comments made on Breitbart.com and Facebook. Visit Breitbart's Facebook Page.