(Reuters) -Humberto has strengthened quickly to become a powerful Category 5 hurricane and is forecast to continue strengthening through the weekend, the U.S. Hurricane Center said on Saturday.

The hurricane was located about 350 miles (563.27 km northeast of the northern Leeward islands, packing maximum sustained winds of 160 miles per hour (257.5 km/hour).

Humberto will likely remain a powerful major hurricane for the next several days, the Miami-based forecaster said, adding that swells generated by Humberto will impact parts of the northern Leeward Islands, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda beginning tonight and continuing through next week.

(Reporting by Gursimran Kaur in BengaluruEditing by Nick Zieminski)