Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands should monitor Bill’s progress, though the core of the dangerous storm is expected to pass well to the northeast of the islands late Wednesday and early Thursday.Bill is centered about 460 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving west-northwest near 16 mph. And forecasters say some additional strengthening is expected by the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. MIAMI — Hurricane Bill has strengthened to a Category 4 storm as it rumbles across the Atlantic with maximum sustained winds near 135 mph.

Hurricane Bill - the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season - has strengthened into a Category 4 storm, experts have said. Its maximum sustained winds were rushing at about 135mph (215kmh), the US National Hurricane Centre went on. At 9am GMT, Bill's centre was about 460 miles (740km) east of the Leeward Islands and moving west-north west at 16mph (26 kmh). "A gradual turn toward the north west is expected during the next 24 to 48 hours," forecasters added. The track projected for the hurricane will take it "well to the north east" of the string of Caribbean islands.

The Miami-based centre said a hurricane hunter plane was en route to the storm to take further readings. Large swells associated with Bill will begin to hit the south eastern US mainland on Friday and Saturday, forecasters added. Elsewhere, the tropical depression that had once been Tropical Storm Claudette was dissipating across southern America. It blew up in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday and lashed Florida resorts with strong winds and heavy rain, but weakened Monday to a depression. The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and ends on November 30.

Hurricane Bill Update

Hurricane Bill Update

Hurricane Bill, upgraded to a Category 4 storm, tore across the Atlantic Wednesday with raging winds nearing 135 mph, threatening a possible strike near Bermuda in a few days, meteorologists reported.Forecasters predicted the hurricane could get even stronger. "The wind sheer is light and the waters are warm," said Todd Kimberlain, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center. "Those are two essential ingredients not just for the formation, but also the maintenance, of hurricanes."

Early Wednesday, Bill was centered about 460 miles east of the Leeward Islands and was expected to pass them later in the day or by early Thursday. The most significant threat could be to Bermuda, which the storm could hit in three or four days, Kimberlain said. It also could move directly between Bermuda and the eastern coast of the U.S. without making landfall. Either way, people near the coast can expect wave swells and rip currents in the next few days, Kimberlain said. Meanwhile, Ana, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, was downgraded to a tropical depression and dissipated before reaching Haiti and the Dominican Republic.