(CNN) -- Tropical Storm Emily continued to churn westward toward the northeastern Caribbean Tuesday and is expected to strengthen slightly in the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said.

The storm was 215 miles southeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Tuesday and is expected to pass near the Dominican Republic and Haiti Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

It continues to move west at 12 mph (19 kilometers), but the Weather Service said it expects the storm to turn to the northwest and gain speed.

The storm's maximum sustained winds have increased slightly to 45 mph (75 kph) and extended about 70 miles (110 kilometers) from the storm's center, forecasters said.

A tropical storm watch for Haiti was upgraded to a storm warning Tuesday morning. Warnings were also in effect for the French territorial island of Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within the next 36 hours.

The Weather Service issued a tropical storm watch for the U.S. Virgin Islands. The forecast also suggests Emily could skirt the east coast of Florida by early Saturday, but no watches or warnings were up for the U.S. mainland Tuesday morning.

In Haiti, where the storm could arrive on Wednesday, the government issued an alert advising residents that the storm's heavy rains could produce dangerous flooding and mudslides.

Emily is expected to dump up to 10 inches of rain in parts of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

COMMENT: the tropical storm emily has become stronger and it has been reaching to the cost it is expected that hit haiti and Republica dominicana but it wouldnt reach Guatemala and thats a good sign because the hevy rains plus the tropical strom woul affect a lot in Guatemala specially in the rural areas near puerto san jose