A tropical depression strengthened into the fifth tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane seasson on Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
As of 5 p.m., Ernesto was moving west at 22 mph about 295 miles east of the Windward Islands with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph.
A tropical storm warning was in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent, the Grenadines, Dominica, St. Lucia, Martinique and Guadeloupe.
The storm was expected to continue moving westward or northwestward the next couple days at the same speed, with the center of the depression near the Windward Islands on Friday.
