Hurricane Ernesto, tracking toward Bermuda, strengthens into a Category 2 storm

Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Hurricane Ernesto strengthened into a Category 2 storm Thursday night as it took aim at Bermuda with expectations it will hit the Caribbean island by the weekend.

In its 11 p.m. update , the National Hurricane Center located Ernesto about 410 miles south-southwest of Bermuda in the north Atlantic Ocean and predicted that tropical storm conditions would begin on the island sometime Friday afternoon.

The storm strengthened into a hurricane Wednesday, grew overnight and continued intensifying throughout Thursday. At the time of the update, it had maximum sustained wind speed of 10 mph and was moving north-northeast at 14 mph. The general motion is expected to continue into Friday, followed by a slower northeastward or north-northeastward motion into Saturday, forecasters said.

Forecasters expect Ernesto's center to pass near Bermuda by Saturday.

Bermuda remains under a hurricane watch. Though it is forecast to remain well off the U.S. East Coast, ocean swells generated by Ernesto are expected to be felt in the region throughout the weekend, with the National Hurricane Center warning beachgoers to be aware of "a significant risk of life-threatening surf and rip currents."

Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles from the storm's center and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 265 miles, NHC officials say.

A tropical storm warning was in effect for the British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as well as Vieques and Culebra.

NHC forecasters said the storm is expected to produce as much as 6 inches of rain on Bermuda with isolated maximum amounts of 9 inches.

Earlier in the week, Puerto Rico began to prepare.

Hurricane Maria in 2018 caused an estimated $90 billion in damage in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, NHC said. Maria was the most destructive hurricane to hit Puerto Rico in modern times and the third costliest hurricane in U.S. history behind Katrina and Harvey.

Maria also knocked down 80% of Puerto Rico's utility poles and all transmission lines, resulting in loss of power to essentially all of the island's 3.4 million residents. Nearly all cellphone and municipal water supplies also were knocked out.

The Atlantic hurricane season already has been active.

Debby was a Category 1 storm that made landfall in the Florida Panhandle and then moved through the U.S. Atlantic Coast last week causing torrential rain and widespread, record flooding up the eastern seaboard.

Beryl struck parts of the Caribbean, the Yucatán Peninsula and the Gulf Coast of the United States in late June and early July.

Two tropical storms were in the Gulf of Mexico in June: Cindy and Alberto .