Tropical Storm Chantal gained strength as it steamed forward, heading west on Monday morning.
As the hurricane moved across the Atlantic Ocean toward the Lesser Antilles, (which includes islands Martinique and Saint Lucia) the United States National Hurricane Center reported that the high winds might reach eastern Florida.
"The center of Chantal should reach Lesser Antilles early Tuesday and move into the eastern Caribbean Sea later on Tuesday," the center told Business Week. "Interests elsewhere in the eastern Caribbean should monitor the progress of Chantal."
The Los Angeles Times reported that the storm will move around 150 miles east of Miami on Saturday, then shift to be near-200 miles east of Daytona Beach.
It's too soon to forecast whether or not Chantal will seriously affect Florida, but will most likely bring heavy rains and winds to South and Central Florida on Friday.
According to an advisory released when Chantal first hit, winds of around 45 miles per hour ripped through the area just southeast of Barbados. The storm is slated to grow to just below the strength of a hurricane on Wednesday, before weakening into the weekend.
Warnings of a tropical storm have been released for Martinique, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Dominica and Guadeloupe. Tropical storm watches were issued for Saint Vincent and Puerto Rico, the hurricane center reported.
Official storm warnings mean the hurricane will bring high winds, rain and waves that will most likely come to a head within 24 or 36 hours. A watch means that those conditions are not absolute, Business Week reported.
The National Hurricane Center's weather tracker for the next five days forecasts that the center of the storm will lose strength by the time it reaches the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, the Bahamas, and potentially the eastern area of the Atlantic near Florida.
Chantal's winds are not expected to hit the 74 mph mark, (classifying it as a hurricane,) but could climb to about 70 mph.
A tropical storm warning has been issued for Baja California Sur, from Santa Fe to La Paz, Business Week said.
Track the storm here.
