Tropical storm Tomas forms southeast of Barbados, could threaten Jamaica

October 30th 2010

Tropical storm Tomas formed in the Atlantic southeast of Barbados on Friday afternoon, meteorologists said, and could threaten Jamaica next week.

Tomas formed just before 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) 320 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Barbados, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, and it has maximum sustained winds of 65 kilometers per hour (40 mph).

Strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours, and Tomas could become a hurricane by Sunday.

Tropical storm warnings were issued for Barbados, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Martinique, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, and for Grenada.

Tomas is moving toward the west-northwest near 28 km/hr (17 mph), the Miami-based center said, and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. The center of Tomas is expected to pass through the central windward islands Saturday afternoon.

Tomas, the nineteenth named storm of the 2010 season, is expected to become a category 3 hurricane next Tuesday in the central Caribbean.

Meanwhile, tropical storm Chary was moving toward Bermuda on Friday afternoon. As of 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC) the storm was located 155 kilometers south of Bermuda.

A turn toward the northeast accompanied by an increase in forward speed is expected on Friday and Saturday morning and Shary is expected to pass near or just east of Bermuda on early Saturday morning.

Shary has maximum sustained winds of 100 km/hr (65 mph), with higher gusts.