First hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season – Hurricane Bertha
Hurricane Bertha strengthened again into a Category 2 storm on Wednesday as it inched closer to Bermuda, 154, but it remained uncertain whether the hurricane would actually strike the British mid-Atlantic colony, 154, U.S. forecasters said.
The first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season surprised forecasters with the speed and vigor at which it strengthened into a "major" Category 3 hurricane on Monday, 154, only to almost fizzle back into a tropical storm on Tuesday.
But warm waters and more favorable atmospheric wind conditions allowed the storm to once again gain traction and reach the second level on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity, 154, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours and Bertha could again become a major hurricane, 154, " the Miami-based center said in an advisory.
Hurricanes of Category 3 and above are called "major" hurricanes and are the strongest and most destructive. Hurricane Katrina, 154, which devastated New Orleans in 2005, 154, was a monstrous Category 5 storm in the Gulf of Mexico before coming ashore as a Category 3.
