tropical storm Bret
© Accuweather
An unusually strong system for June will pass through the southern part of the Windward Islands with tropical storm conditions through Tuesday.

The system strengthened into Tropical Storm Bret on Monday afternoon. Since Bret formed prior to June 22, it has become the earliest named storm to form in this part of the Atlantic since official records were kept in 1851.

Winds and seas to build around the islands and the Venezuela coast as Bret crosses the region through Tuesday.

Bathers and boaters should heed all advisories as seas and surf will become dangerous.

Because of the compact nature of the storm, adverse conditions are likely to hug the coast of Guyana and Venezuela, the southern part of the Windward Islands and a portion of the Leeward Antilles.

People on the islands from Trinidad and Tobago to Grenada, Margarita and Tortuga can expect showers and gusty thunderstorms to ramp up into Tuesday.

Rain is generally needed on these islands since they receive little rain on an annual basis. However, too much rain can fall too fast and lead to flash flooding and mudslides. Rainfall will average 2-4 inches with locally higher amounts possible.

"Interaction with the large land mass of South America will cap the development of the tropical system to a tropical storm through Tuesday," AccuWeather Hurricane Expert Dan Kottlowski said.

"As the system moves west-northwestward over the Caribbean Sea, it is likely to weaken, due to strong winds at mid-levels of the atmosphere on Wednesday," Kottlowski said.

Regeneration of the system is not likely beyond Wednesday.

It is possible that spotty showers and thunderstorms survive and expand northwestward across the Caribbean as the week progresses.

Conditions will improve from east to west across the Windward Islands and the Venezuela coast on Wednesday.

Tropical development in this part of the Atlantic during June is rare. Development is much more common late in the summer and typically occurs farther north.

"On record, there have only been three [other] tropical systems to form this far south in the central Atlantic during June," Kottlowski said.

These systems were the Trinidad hurricane in 1933, Tropical Storm Ana in 1979 and Tropical Depression Two in 2000.