Jamaica issues hurricane watch for Charley
Bonnie eyes Florida panhandle
(CNN) -- The Cayman Islands and Jamaica were bracing Wednesday for Tropical Storm Charley, which continues to strengthen in the Caribbean.
The Caymans were placed under a hurricane warning early Wednesday. Jamaica and the Florida Keys are under a hurricane watch, which means hurricane conditions are possible within the next 36 hours or so.
Storm warnings will be required for parts of Cuba later Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
Meanwhile, a second storm -- Bonnie -- is still eyeing the Florida panhandle for a possible landfall in the next few days.
At 5 a.m. ET, Charley's sustained winds neared 65 mph (104 kph) , with higher gusts, the NHC said. Charley could become a hurricane on Wednesday. A minimal hurricane has winds of at least 74 mph (118 kph).
Charley is about 160 miles (255 km) east-southeast of Kingston, moving west-northwest at 24 mph (38 kph). The storm's center is expected to approach Jamaica's coast Wednesday morning as the storm strengthens over the next 24 hours. (Map: Charley's predicted path)
There was little evidence of the approaching storm in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday.
"It's nice, it's not raining," said Sophia, the desk manager at Morgans Harbour Hotel, which is located on Kingston's beach.
The hotel manager of Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston's business district said he was holding out hope that the storm would pass.
"We haven't taken any precautions [at the hotel] because in recent times, when there's a storm, it usually veers away at the last minute," Andre Miller said.
Storm warnings are also in effect in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
In the Gulf of Mexico, Bonnie's winds held steady at 45 mph (72 kph) overnight, according to the NHC's 5 a.m. update. The storm -- still a couple of days away from landfall -- is about 265 miles (424 km) south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving slowly northward at about 5 mph (8 kph).
Some strengthening is expected later in the day as Bonnie begins to turn northeast toward Panama City, Florida, and picks up forward speed. (Map: Bonnie's predicted path)
Bonnie remains a small storm, its tropical storm winds reaching only 30 miles from its center, while Charley's storm-strength winds extend more than 100 miles from center.
Forecasters' models show Charley passing directly over Jamaica and the smaller, easternmost Cayman Islands, then passing over western Cuba late Thursday. The storm then enters the Gulf of Mexico, along the Florida coast.
Bonnie, the second named storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season, could be the first to crash ashore. The first named storm, Hurricane Alex, skirted the Outer Banks of North Carolina last week before heading out to sea.
