The National Hurricane Center is watching stormy weather in the northeast Caribbean that is now affecting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is getting better organized and could become a tropical depression later today.

If it develops further into a tropical storm, it will be named Fay.

Hurricane hunter aircraft from NOAA and the U.S. Air Force Reserve will be flying through the storm today to gather more data.

Forecasters have issued a statement urging interests from the Virgin Islands to South Florida to prepare for locally heavy rains and gusty winds. Here's AccuWeather,.com's take on the storm's prospects, and their storm track map, at right.

The storm is expected to move up the East Coast next week, and could be affecting Maryland weather around the middle of the week, according to forecasters at Sterling, Va. Here's a snippet from this morning's discussion:

"WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP AN EYE ON THE TROPICS NEXT WEEK. GUIDANCE
FORECASTS A TROPICAL SYSTEM OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST BY THE MIDDLE OF
NEXT WEEK."