By Nicholas Sakelaris and Danielle Haynes From UPI

Sept. 27 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Kirk is expected to make landfall in the Lesser Antilles on Thursday evening, bringing 50-mph winds and the threat of flooding and mudslides.

The center of the storm was located about 45 miles east-northeast of Barbados at 11 a.m. Thursday. The storm was moving at 15 mph.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominca, Martinique and Guadeloupe, and tropical storm watches were in place for St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The storm could dump up to 10 inches of rain across Martinique and Dominica, forecasters predicted.

Kirk became a named storm Saturday and formed the farthest south of any major storm since 2012.

The storm is expected to hit the eastern part of Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Marialast year. The storm is expected to dump 2 to 4 inches of rain on the U.S. territory.

Kirk is expected to be downgraded to a tropical depression as it passes over the islands.

Another named storm, Leslie, was downgraded to a non-tropical storm Tuesday. It could regain sub-tropical storm status later this week.

IMAGE:A view of Tropical Storm Kirk in the eastern Caribbean early Thursday as it headed west. Forecasters said it will make landfall on the Lesser Antilles later Thursday. Image courtesy of NOAA

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ADDITIONAL IMAGE: https://www.tropicaltidbits.com/storminfo/#12L