After battering the Dominican Republic, Tropical Storm Franklin is over the open waters of the Atlantic and is forecast to become a hurricane in the next couple of days.
Late Thursday morning, the storm was about 90 miles east-northeast of Grand Turk Island. It was moving to the northeast at about 7 mph with sustained winds of 60 mph.
The storm is forecast to continue in this direction over the next day or so and then take a sharp turn toward the north. Slow strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours and Franklin could become a hurricane by Saturday.
Meanwhile, a low-pressure system moving across Central America on Thursday could threaten parts of Florida during the Labor Day weekend.
The weather disturbance, which is being monitored by the National Hurricane Center, was forecast to gradually develop as it moves into the northwestern Caribbean this weekend.
