JAMAICA’S national meteorological service says it continues to monitor Tropical Storm Gonzalo, which is expected to be strengthened into a hurricane today. However, the local met service, in a post on its website, says the system, which was last night heading towards the Lesser Antilles, would not move close to Jamaica until about one week’s time.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Gonzalo was strengthening as it makes it way across the southern Windward Islands.

The NHC said that the storm, which is packing maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (mph), was located 1,935 miles, east of the southern Windward Islands with a forward movement of 14 mph at noon yesterday.

“A general westward motion at a faster forward speed is expected during the next few days. Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 50 mph with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Gonzalo is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday,” the NHC said.

“Gonzalo is a small tropical cyclone, as tropical storm force winds extend outward only up to 25 miles from the centre,” the NHC said.

It said while there was no coastal watches or warnings in effect, interests in the Windward Islands — Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines — should monitor the progress of the system.

— CMC and Observer reports