Bertha becomes first hurricane of 2008 season - UPDATES

Tropical Storm Bertha has further strengthened and is now becomes the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season.

At 4 a.m., the center of Hurricane Bertha was about 845 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands.

Bertha is moving toward the west-northwest near 17 mph. A continued west-northwestward motion with a gradual decrease in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days as Bertha remains over the waters of the central tropical Atlantic. It is still too early to determine if Bertha will eventually affect any land areas.

THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE TO THE NORTH OF
BERTHA IS PROVIDING THE STEERING...BUT THAT FEATURE IS FORECAST BY
THE DYNAMICAL MODELS TO GRADUALLY WEAKEN OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC
DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS...ALLOWING BERTHA'S TRACK TO STEADILY BEND
TO THE RIGHT...BUT ALSO SLOW DOWN SUBSTANTIALLY.

National Hurricane Center

THE OFFICIAL FORECAST NOW CALLS FOR
BERTHA TO BECOME A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE.
INTERESTS IN
BERMUDA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS SYSTEM.