Hurricane Bertha is quickly gaining strength as it churns across the open waters of the central Atlantic.
AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center meteorologists are monitoring the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic Basin
hurricane season.
Early Monday, Tropical Storm Bertha was upgraded to hurricane status, ironically, 12 years after another Hurricane Bertha formed in the Atlantic.
At 5:00 a.m. EDT, Bertha was located approximately 675 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, moving west-northwest near 10 mph. Bertha is a powerful Category-3 storm, with
maximum-sustained winds near 120 mph with higher gusts.
Bertha is currently a compact hurricane, with hurricane force winds extending 30 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extending 115 miles from the center of the storm.
The storm will continue to the west-northwest through an area of low shear, warm water and increased moisture that will allow it to continue to intensify.
The shear zone is one of a number of factors over the next week to 10 days that will influence where Bertha goes and what land masses it will impact.
According to Expert Senior Meteorologist John Kocet, a large high pressure area over the Atlantic will keep Bertha traveling on a mostly west-northwest track. Kocet says, "It is a certainty that
Bertha will not enter the Gulf of Mexico and will not impact energy interests in the Gulf."
The storms moving across North America this week could influence Bertha. Kocet says waves of low pressure crossing the continent could weaken the high as they move into the Atlantic. "The waves of
lows could attack the high from the north. If that occurs, the high will weaken over time, allowing Bertha to make a turn to the north."
Under this scenario, residents of Bermuda especially need to keep up to date with the latest track and strength of Hurricane Bertha.
According to Kocet, with weak winds over the western Atlantic, Bertha could become virtually stationary by the weekend. "At the least, we can expect ocean swells and potentially dangerous rip
currents this weekend along the Southeast coast."
All interests along the Southeast coast and anyone planning vacations to beach resorts in the Southeast should monitor the
AccuWeather.com Hurricane Center for updates on Bertha's progression over the next week to 10 days.
View Most Recent Headline
RSS Feeds Available 
Podcasts Available 
Blogs Available
