Forecasters are keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Danny, which could affect Western Tidewater as early as Friday afternoon.

The National Hurricane Center, based in Miami, reported Wednesday that an area of disturbed weather east of the Bahamas had become Tropical Storm Danny.

“Interests in the Bahamas and the southeastern U.S. should monitor the progress of Danny,” the NHC advised in a written statement.

The center of the storm was located near 24.9 degrees north latitude and 70.3 degrees west longitude, or about 445 miles east of Nassau, Bahamas and about 775 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.

According to the NHC, Danny is moving toward the west-northwest at about 18 miles per hour. The storm is moving in a general northwestward motion, and a decrease in forward speed is expected for today and Thursday. The storm was also expected to turn toward the north-northwest on Friday. Danny’s maximum winds were near 45 mph with higher gusts, the NHC said, adding that slow strengthening is possible during the next couple of days. The NHC warned that tropical storm force winds could extend outward up to 140 miles, mainly north of the storm’s center.

The storm is expected to bring 2 to 3, or perhaps as much as 4, inches of rain to the central and northwestern Bahamas. The southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands could get 1 to 2 inches of rain.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service in Wakefield issued a hazardous weather outlook for several counties in the region, including Southampton, Isle of Wight, Sussex and Greensville counties. The service warned that heavy rainfall “will be possible from Friday afternoon through Saturday.”