Bertha Builds Into 1st Atlantic Hurricane Storm Whirling West-Northwest Toward Caribbean Islands; Could Reach Category 2 Strength
Like this Story? Share it: Share On Facebook Tweet This infrared satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Hurricane Center shows Hurricane Bertha gaining strength over the Atlantic at 4:45 a.m. Eastern, July 7, 2008. (CBS/NOAA/National Hurricane Center) Interactive Storm Tracker Follow all the storms of the 2010 season with satellite images, warnings and wind speed charts.
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Hurricane Bertha continues to strengthen as it moves over the central Atlantic Ocean.As of 11 a.m. EDT Monday, the Atlantic season's first hurricane was centered about 775 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. National Hurricane Center forecasters say Bertha is expected to turn in the general direction of Bermuda.It's still to early to tell whether Bertha will hit the island, but forecasters urged residents to monitor the storm's progress.Maximum sustained winds have increased to speeds of 90 mph with higher gusts. Some strengthening is expected during the next 24 hours, and forecasters say Bertha could become a Category 2 hurricane later Monday.Bertha is headed west-northwest at about 15 mph and is expected to slow down in the next couple of days.
Just hours after Tropical Storm Bertha became the first hurricane of the , Bertha strengthened to a "major" storm at category three on the five-step  scale of hurricane intensity, the  (NHC) said.

Five-day track map of Hurricane Bertha.At 5 p.m. EDT, the storm was packing sustained winds of 120 miles an hour and was located about 695 miles east-northeast of the Northern  and about 1085 miles southeast of Bermuda. Forecasters say that Bertha is moving west-northwest at about 12 miles an hour and is expected to slow down in the next couple of days. "A gradual turn toward the northwest with a decrease in forward speed is expected over the next couple of days," the NHC said.

While the NHC noted that it is still too early to tell if Bertha will strike land, residents are being urged to continue to monitor the storm's progress. Further strengthening is unlikely, according to the NHC, due to unfavorable atmospheric conditions.

Bertha first formed on Thursday in the eastern Atlantic off of Africa. The storm is the easternmost tropical storm to form over the Atlantic in the month of July.