Water Vapour- Western Atlantic and Caribbean: NOAA

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Prev    Next Fred nears hurricane force in eastern Atlantic, but no threat to the Caribbean Published on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 Email To Friend    Print Version Tropical Storm Fred: Three-day forecast track. NOAA graphic MIAMI, USA (Reuters) -- Tropical Storm Fred neared hurricane strength as it spun through the open waters of the eastern Atlantic on Tuesday but its path should keep it clear of any land for several days and perhaps until it dies. Located southwest of the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of Africa, Fred was expected to take a track thousands of miles east of the populous US East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico oil patch. The sixth tropical storm of the 2009 Atlantic season had sustained winds of 70 miles per hour (110 km per hour), shy of the 74 mph needed for a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson intensity scale. It was expected to reach hurricane status by late Tuesday or early Wednesday. The five-day forecast track issued by the US National Hurricane Center would keep it in the eastern Atlantic for all of that time, far from any land. By 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday, the storm was located about 410 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and was moving to the west at about 14 mph, forecasters said. Fred's sustained winds were expected to reach about 90 mph, making it a strong Category 1, before it starts to weaken in two days, the NHC said. "Cooler waters, stronger (wind) shear and drier air should significantly weaken Fred, and it would not be surprising if Fred was only a remnant low by day 5," the hurricane center said in a statement. Hurricanes draw energy from warm water, so cooler sea surface temperatures can weaken them, while wind shear -- a difference in wind speeds at different altitudes -- can inhibit their growth or tear them apart. With the peak of the hurricane season two days away, the Atlantic-Caribbean basin has seen five tropical storms and one hurricane with little damage. Hurricane Bill, which reached Category 4 in the open ocean, hit Canada's Atlantic provinces as a Category 1 storm. Tropical storms Ana and Erika sloshed through the northern Caribbean islands, Claudette went ashore in north Florida and Danny fizzled off the Carolinas.   Reads : 974   Prev    Next

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