A storm system in the Atlantic is expected to strengthen into a tropical storm this weekend.
The system, which was centered over Haiti on Friday, is expected to drift through the Bahamas this weekend, gaining strength as it goes. Its wind speeds were about 35 miles per hour, lower than the 39mph threshold for a tropical storm. The National Hurricane Center forecast the storm would pass that threshold by Sunday morning.
The National Hurricane Center warned the system could directly impact the U.S. early next week.
"There is an increasing threat of heavy rainfall early next week from coastal Georgia through the Carolinas and into the southern Mid-Atlantic states, which could cause flash, urban, and river flooding," The National Hurricane Center wrote.
The storm could be "at or near hurricane intensity" when it approaches the continental U.S., forecasters said.
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Tropical Storm Chantal is the only named storm to directly impact the U.S. so far this year, making landfall in late June as a weak tropical storm in South Carolina.
The tropics have been more active in recent days, with Hurricanes Gabrielle and Humberto forming in the open Atlantic. Hurricane Gabrielle became a post-tropical cyclone on Friday after striking the Azores. Humberto remains in the open Atlantic and is headed generally toward Bermuda.
