Hurricane Oscar has formed off the coast of the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Saturday. The storm poses potential threats to surrounding areas of the southeastern Bahamas and is expected to bring hurricane conditions and produce a storm surge on the Turks and Caicos Islands, with heavy rainfall, the NHC said.

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,

Oscar, which the National Hurricane Center characterized as "very small," is the 15th named storm of the hurricane season.