TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor Sam, which is expected to remain a major hurricane for several days.

At 5 p.m. ET Monday, Sam weakened to a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph and hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 30 miles from its center. It was centered about 700 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, moving west-northwest at 9 mph.

“Little change in strength is expected during the next day or so. Thereafter, some slow weakening is forecast through midweek, although Sam should remain a major hurricane,” the hurricane center said.

Swells from Sam are expected to impact the Lesser Antilles for the next several days. The swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions on those islands for several days, forecasters warned.

The NHC is also watching three other systems in the Atlantic.

The first is a broad area of low pressure several hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands. The system has an 80% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next five days as it moves over the central tropical Atlantic, the hurricane center said.

Another tropical wave is expected to move off the west coast of Africa later Monday. The system has an 80% chance of developing into a tropical depression in the next few days as it moves over the far eastern tropical Atlantic.

The NHC is also watching a disturbance associated with the remnants of Peter, which is a few hundred miles southeast of Bermuda.

“Peter could briefly become a tropical depression again durin the next day or two while it moves northeastward at about 10 mph,” the NHC said.

Forecasters give the system a 50% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next two days.