Bad weather closing in on the island tourist hotspot of the Bahamas grew into a tropical storm on Wednesday, as the US National Hurricane Center urged southeastern US states to stay on their guard.

Tropical storm Danny was barrelling towards the Bahamas, lying about 445 miles (715 kilometres) east of the capital, Nassau, and about 775 miles (1250 kilometres) off the US coast at North Carolina.

Packing winds of up to 45 miles (75 kilometres) an hour, the hurricane centre forecast Danny might slowly pick up strength in the coming days, and move towards the northwest and the US coast on Friday.

The storm is likely to bring rainfall of two to four inches (five to 10 centimetres) over the central and western Bahamas, as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands.

"Interests in the Bahamas and the southeastern United States should monitor the progress of Danny," the Miami-based centre said in its morning advisory.

The Atlantic hurricane season began on 1 June and ends on 30 November.

Hurricane Bill, the first of the storm season, was on Monday downgraded to a mere storm as it swept over Canada.

So far 2009 has seen one of the calmest starts to the hurricane season in a decade, which researchers have attributed to the development of an El Nino effect in the Pacific.

AFP

It's JZ, leave a message... "Hi, this is Zuma. You know what to do. No, no... not the machine gun. Leave a message..."

Finding love in Zululand Susan Pletts ventures into Zululand and discovers that SA's hidden treasures are its people.

Visit our politics page Need the latest political news, features, interviews and profiles? Visit our dedicated page...