Franklin became the first major hurricane of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season early Monday, as it crawled north through the Caribbean.
The National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. EDT update that the storm had intensified overnight, gaining maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, which makes it a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
Forecasters predict Franklin will continue to strengthen over Monday before gradually starting to weaken Tuesday afternoon.
The NHC located the storm about 393 miles north of Grand Turk Island and about 505 miles southwest of Bermuda. It was moving north-northwest at about 8 mph.
No warnings were in effect, but the NHC said watches would likely be required for Bermuda later Monday.
Swells generated by the storm had already begun to impact the British island territory, the NHC said, while warning that the system could produce potentially life-threatening surf and rip currents along the U.S. east coast this week.
Franklin was taking aim on Bermuda on Monday as Tropical Storm Idalia was heading for Florida where it is forecast to hit Wednesday as a hurricane.
