WEATHER | Tropical Storm Fiona claims one life in Guadeloupe, Floods Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico

Tropical Storm Fiona is now forecast to become a Category 1 hurricane by the middle of next week, after it lashed Guadeloupe, the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico with heavy rain and high winds this weekend.

Forecasters say Fiona, the sixth storm of the season, is expected to bring flooding rain to the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico over the weekend before reaching the Dominican Republic and Haiti early next week.

The storm already lashed several eastern Caribbean islands, with one death reported in the French territory of Guadeloupe. Regional prefect Alexandre Rochatte said the body was found on a roadside after a home washed away in the capital of Basse-Terre.

#Fiona ߌట쀰 Les fortes pluies ont provoqué des dans tout l’archipel durant la nuit.
1.Riviere des Pères à #BasseTerre (Vidéo RS)@guadeloupela1e pic.twitter.com/OhhRoue5SG

— Eric Stimpfling (@StimpflingEric) September 17, 2022

More than 20 other people were rescued amid heavy wind and rain that left 13,000 customers without power, with the storm tearing up roads, downing trees and destroying at least one bridge.

Fiona was centered 70 miles (115 kilometers) south of St. Croix late Saturday afternoon, with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It was moving west at 9 mph (15 kph) on a path forecast to pass near or over Puerto Rico on Sunday night. Fiona was expected to become a hurricane before reaching Puerto Rico's southern coast.

As of 8 p.m. Saturday, the National Hurricane Center stated  Fiona is likely to strengthen and become a hurricane before reaching the southern coast of Puerto Rico on Sunday.

Additional strengthening is expected on Monday and Tuesday, as Fiona moves over the southwestern Atlantic, according to the NHC.

Late Saturday afternoon, tropical storm conditions are beginning to reach the Virgin Islands, according to the NHC, and are expected to spread westward and reach Puerto Rico later tonight.

The National Hurricane Center also is monitoring  two tropical waves, including a new one that popped up Friday morning off the coast of the Carolinas.

One of the systems, a frontal low, is producing disorganized showers and thunderstorms a couple of hundred miles northwest of Bermuda.

Forecasters said it will likely not strengthen into a tropical storm due to high-level winds. They gave it a 10% chance of formation through the next two to five days as it quickly moves east, away from the U.S. East Coast, into the open waters of the Atlantic.

Most models put Fiona moving to the west toward Puerto Rico and Hispaniola before taking a northly path east of Florida, but forecasters warn that the path could shift either east or west depending on conditions.

Several factors will determine Fiona's intensity over the coming days and into next week, including wind shear, dry air and the impact that land has over the tropical storm.