Tropical Storm Leslie tracker: System expected to become hurricane in a few days

The National Hurricane Center is keeping close tabs on Tropical Storm Leslie , which as of Thursday morning was located about 540 miles southwest of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands, the NHC said.

Leslie is forecast to continue moving west through Thursday night, followed by a slightly faster west-northwestward motion Friday through Saturday, according to hurricane center forecasters.

The storm has maximum sustained winds near 45 mph as of Thursday morning and is expected to continue strengthening, with forecasters expecting Leslie to become a hurricane "in a day or so."

The NHC is also tracking Hurricane Kirk , which is continuing to gain strength in the Atlantic Ocean.

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Tropical Storm Leslie path tracker

Tropical Storm Leslie spaghetti models

Illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses only the top four or five highest performing models to help make its forecasts.

If path tracker and spaghetti model are not displaying on your screen, you can view them here .

Atlantic storm tracker

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tropical Storm Leslie tracker: System expected to become hurricane in a few days