Tropical Storm Bret grew stronger on Wednesday as it took aim at islands in the eastern Caribbean that braced for torrential rainfall, landslides and flooding.
Bret had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph Wednesday and was moving westward across the Atlantic Ocean at 16 mph about 290 miles east of Barbados, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
A tropical storm warning was issued for St. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica Wednesday while tropical storm watches remained in effect for Barbados and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Get South Florida local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC South Florida newsletters.
The hurricane center said it was too soon to know where Bret's center would pass through, but it warned that up to 10 inches of rain were forecast from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe south to Grenada and Barbados.
The government of Guadeloupe warned that inclement weather would start Thursday morning and continue until late Friday, with waves of up to 11 feet.
"Be careful!" officials warned in a statement.
HURRICANE SEASON
The center of Bret was expected to approach the Lesser Antilles on Thursday, move across the Lesser Antilles late Thursday and Thursday night, and then move westward across the eastern and central Caribbean Sea Friday and
Saturday.
Some increase in strength is forecast before Bret reaches the Lesser Antilles, but weakening was expected by Friday once Bret moves over the Caribbean Sea, and the system was likely to dissipate on Saturday.
The storm formed Monday — an unusually early and aggressive start to the Atlantic hurricane season that began on June 1.
A tropical disturbance with an 80% chance of cyclone formation was also trailing Bret. The disturbance was expected to develop into a tropical depression over the next couple of days, the NHC said Wednesday.
No June on record has had two storms form in the tropical Atlantic, according to meteorologist Philip Klotzbach at Colorado State University.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast 12 to 17 named storms for this year’s hurricane season. It said between five and nine of those storms could become hurricanes, including up to four major hurricanes of Category 3 or higher.
