MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Danny has formed in the open Atlantic off the Bahamas, and forecasters say it could get stronger as it moves toward the US.

The storm has top winds of 45 mph (72 kph) and is moving to the west-northwest at 18 mph (29 kph). As of 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) Wednesday, the storm's center was about 445 miles (715 kilometres) east of Nassau, Bahamas and about 775 miles (1,250 kilometres) south of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

The current forecast has the storm on a path to clip the US East Coast over the weekend, but a storm's track can be difficult to predict days in advance. People in the Bahamas and the southeastern US are advised to monitor the storm.