MIAMI, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Top winds of Tropical Storm Chris drew closer to reaching hurricane status Wednesday as the storm approached the Caribbean from the western Atlantic.
At midday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said the system could become a minimal hurricane late Wednesday or early Thursday as it moved west-northwest near 10 mph with sustained winds of 65 mph.
The storm's center was 120 miles east-northeast of the island of St. Thomas, and high winds extended outward 75 miles.
A storm becomes a Category 1 hurricane when sustained winds reach 74 mph.
Forecasters said as much as 8 inches of rain was possible in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico from the third named storm of the season. Impact on the U.S. coast was not out of the question, as the storm has been unpredictable.
"We have shifted the track farther to the south, but we can't rule out South Florida this early in the game," NHC forecaster Jennifer Pralgo told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
