ORLANDO, Fla. _ Tropical Storm Jerry spurred new tropical storm watches for parts of the Leeward Islands as it continued strengthening Wednesday, with the expectation of becoming a hurricane by Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. EDT update.
Jerry's maximum sustained winds increased to 60 mph Wednesday afternoon as it moved west-northwest at 15 mph, the NHC said. The system will be considered a Category 1 hurricane when the winds begin blowing at 74 mph.
The system was about 765 miles east of the Leeward Islands as of 5 p.m.
"On the forecast track, the center of Jerry will be near or north of the northern Leeward Islands Friday and pass north of Puerto Rico on Saturday," the NHC said.
With the 5 p.m. update, a tropical storm watch was issued for St. Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy.
Jerry's tropical-storm-force winds extend up to 45 miles from the center.
The storm's "general motion is expected to continue during the next 3 to 4 days. Afterward, a northwest to north-northwestward turn ... is expected," the hurricane center said in its discussion about the storm.
In the Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Storm Imelda formed Tuesday before quickly downgrading into a depression with maximum sustained winds of 30 mph. Imelda is moving at 7 mph into the eastern parts of Texas.
The system is projected to bring 6 to 12 inches of rainfall with isolated maximum amounts of 18 inches to Houston and Galveston areas.
