Hurricane Beryl became the first hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season.
The storm strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane from a tropical storm early Friday morning.
Hurricane Beryl still poses no threat to Florida as of Friday morning.
As of 11 a.m. ET Friday, the National Hurricane Center said Beryl is now forecast to be a hurricane when it moves through the Lesser Antilles – a chain of islands in the eastern Caribbean Sea – on Sunday night or Monday. The NHC said the chance of some islands receiving direct impacts from wind and rainfall are increasing. However, Beryl is very small and it is too early to determine where those impacts could happen.
The NHC said hurricane watches could be required for some of the islands by Friday night.
Beryl has winds of 80 mph and was moving to the west at 15 mph. It was located about 1,045 miles east-southeast of the Lesser Antilles as of 11 a.m. Friday.
There are currently no coastal watches or warnings in effect.
NHC forecasters said because Beryl is very small in size, there is a greater-than-usual uncertainty in the analysis of the storm's intensity.
Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale: How to measure a tropical cyclone's strength
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