The National Hurricane Center said Oscar has strengthened into a hurricane. Hurricane Oscar has maximum sustained winds around 80 mph and is moving west at 12 mph. A Hurricane Warning advisory has been issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands and southeast Bahamas.

Hurricane Oscar, a surprisingly powerful but compact storm, is defying forecasts and posing a threat to the Turks and Caicos Islands, the southeastern Bahamas, and eastern Cuba. The storm, which was initially expected to remain a tropical storm,

Hurricane Oscar formed Saturday off the coast of the Bahamas and brushed past the Turks and Caicos islands to the south during the night. The National Hurricane Center in Miami characterized the storm as “tiny,