Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines under Hurricane Watch

Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were placed under Hurricane watch Thursday morning as a strengthening Tropical Storm Gonzalo approaches the Eastern Caribbean.

Forecasters also warned residents of the Windward Islands – Grenada, Saint Lucia and Dominica – to monitor Gonzalo’s progress as additional Watches and Warnings are likely to be issued for them later Thursday.

Thursday’s 8:00 a.m. (AST)  forecast placed Gonzalo near latitude 9.8 North, longitude 47.9 West or about 910 miles (1,403 km) East of the Windward Islands. It is moving towards the West at about 12 miles per hour, with maximum sustained winds near 65 miles per hour.  Forecasters are predicting further strengthening and Gonzalo is expected to become a hurricane later Thursday.

On its forecast track Gonzalo is expected to approach Barbados and the Windward Islands late Friday and Saturday.

Gonzalo is expected to bring heavy rainfall to Barbados, the Windward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.

A Hurricane Watch:

A hurricane Watch means that hurricane conditions are  possible within the Watch area and is typically issued 48 hours before the anticipated first occurrence of tropical-storm-force winds.