CMC - Bermuda residents on Tuesday geared up for a possible weekend battering from Tropical Storm Leslie, which continues to churn towards the island from the south-southeast.

Leslie is forecast to reach hurricane force on Thursday and become a dangerous Category two storm on Saturday.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said in its 5 a.m. advisory that the system may grow into a hurricane and brush Bermuda.

Leslie has winds of 65 miles per hour and is moving north at 5 mph and the storm was 545 miles southeast of Bermuda.

The NHC said that on its current track Leslie is expected to be near the western side of Bermuda this weekend with winds of 100 mph and may stir storm surf from Bermuda to the US East Coast.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November.

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