HAVANA, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Tropical storm Ernesto, the fifth of the 2012 season in the Atlantic Ocean, continued speeding toward the Caribbean islands of Barbados, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Martinique, Guadeloupe and the Grenadines, forecasters said Thursday.

According to the latest advisory from the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC), issued at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT), Ernesto formed 475 km east of the Windward Islands, and was moving westward at 35 kph with maximum sustained winds of 85 kph.

The NHC said Ernesto was gaining strength in the next 48 hours, and the "center of the storm would be near the islands by late Thursday or early Friday."

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the islands, with 5 to 8 cm of rainfall expected across the region through Friday.

Forecasters said if the storm develops into a hurricane, it could reach Mexico's southeastern Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday.

The U.S. National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration has forecast a less-active Atlantic hurricane season this year, with between nine and 15 tropical storms, four to eight of which will become hurricanes. Enditem

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