Forecasters are keeping a watchful eye on Tropical Storm Noel, which is expected to bring gale-force winds and heavy rain to the Island this weekend.

Last night, the system was scheduled to make its closest point of approach on Saturday morning, in the early hours, when it will be positioned some 232 nautical miles to the northwest of Bermuda.

However, according to Geoff Saville, meteorologist at the Bermuda Weather Service, we can expect weather conditions to deteriorate earlier than that.

He said: "The onset of the stronger winds is probably going to be a bit earlier than that, we could well see the average speed of the gale-force winds coming in on Friday evening.

"And wind gusts will probably reach gale force sometime (today) actually."

At last check, Noel was located approximately 935 nautical miles southwest, with maximum sustained gusts of 45 to 55 knots. It has been tracking to the north-northwest at 345 degrees at seven knots.

Yesterday, the storm was blamed on killing at least 48 people in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, as floodwaters and mudslides generated a gloomy net over the Caribbean islands.

In the Dominican Republic, The Associated Press reported that almost 12,000 people were driven from their homes and almost 3,000 homes were destroyed, while collapsed bridges and swollen rivers isolated 36 towns.

"The gust speeds are probably going to reach around 45, possibly 50 knots," predicted Mr. Saville.

"But the average speed is going to be more like 30 to 35 knots, which is gale force.

"Noel is a tropical storm, at the moment, but as it heads northwards it's going to be interacting with a front coming down from the east coast of the United States.

"And as it moves northwards, it kind of loses its tropical storm characteristics and becomes more like a winter storm."

Mr. Saville predicted Noel will not be a tropical storm by the time it reaches its closest point of approach. He emphasised there was a slim chance Noel would turn into a hurricane and compared the system to a "strong winter gale".

"Certainly people should prepare," he added. "But it's not going to be like a severe hurricane, it is passing to the west of the Island."

Cruise ship Norwegian Majesty, took no chances and was scheduled to sail out of Bermuda at 5 p.m. yesterday, ahead of its original departure time today at 12 p.m. It was heading for Charleston, South Carolina. Meanwhile, Norwegian Crown was considering whether it should leave the Island early and is expected to make a decision by this morning, The Royal Gazette was told.