Caribbean Islands on Alert for Tropical Storm Chris

Tropical Storm Chris, the third of the Atlantic hurricane season, formed Tuesday east of the Leeward Islands, prompting storm alerts for some of the small northeastern Caribbean islands and Puerto Rico.

Chris had maximum sustained winds of about 60 mph and was expected to get stronger, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.

The hurricane center said Chris could become a hurricane by Friday.

The storm was moving west-northwest at about 10 mph on a path that would take it north of Puerto Rico and the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

It would reach the central Bahamas by Sunday, headed toward the southeast Florida coast, forecasters said.

A tropical storm warning, telling residents to expect storm conditions within 24 hours, was issued for Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, St. Barthelemy, St. Martin, Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands.

The second storm of the season, Tropical Storm Beryl, skirted the North Carolina coast and blew over Nantucket Island and other Northeastern tourist playgrounds in July.

Alberto, which moved ashore harmlessly in the Florida Panhandle in mid-June, was the first storm of what is expected to be a busy season, lasting from June to November.

Forecasters have predicted up to 17 tropical storms and hurricanes this year.

Last year saw a record 28, including Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.