San Juan, October 15 (NNN-RHC) -- Hurricane Gonzalo grew into a major category 3 storm Tuesday and is expected to strengthen further as it heads toward Bermuda after killing a man in the Dutch Caribbean territory of St Martin, authorities said.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said the center of Gonzalo was moving northwest, away from the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, prompting storm alerts for those areas to be lifted.

Most forecasts showed Gonzalo posing no threat to the mainland United States and moving still further north into the Atlantic. It could hit Bermuda late on Friday.

Gonzalo is the sixth hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until the end of November. Forecasters in August predicted lower than usual activity for the season, with seven to 12 named storms and no more than two reaching major hurricane status.