Newly formed tropical storm Arlene could pass just 100 miles east of the Island, forecasters said yesterday.

The first named storm of the season, Arlene's winds built speeds of up to 60 mph yesterday while local and US National Hurricane Centre forecasters said it may eventually curve away from the Island.

At 6 p.m. last night, Tropical Storm Arlene was 351 nautical miles east-southeast of Bermuda or at latitude 29.1 degrees north and 59.1 degrees longitude west.

Maximum sustained winds were 50 knots with gusts to 60 knots, and it was moving west at just four knots. Its central barometric pressure was 1,000 millibars.

Arlene was declared a tropical storm at noon on Saturday.

In the Bermuda Weather Service's 72-hour forecast, Arlene was predicted to reach its closest point of approach at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at some 146 miles east-southeast.

Its track is not being influenced by other weather systems and is considered to be drifting toward the Island.

Saying it was too early to precisely predict what the storm might do, a weather spokesman said last night: "It will begin to drift northward and will get to a point about 100 miles to the east.

"It has a very slow movement and may strengthen,'' he added. "It will be watched very carefully.'' Storms in that part of the Atlantic Ocean often turn toward the northeast and die at sea as they enter cooler waters, which discourage development.