Barbados under Hurricane Watch

Barbados was placed under Hurricane watch early Thursday morning as a strengthening Tropical Storm Gonzalo approaches the Eastern Caribbean.

Forecasters also warned residents of the Windward Islands – Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 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 5:00 a.m. (AST)  forecast placed Gonzalo near latitude 10.0 North, longitude 47.0 West or about 872 miles (1,403 km) East of Barbados. 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.

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.