"Bertha" May Be
Atlantic-Caribbean
Season's 1st Hurricane
Tropical storm Bertha,
which is approaching
warmer waters, may
strengthen into the
first hurricane of the
2008 Atlantic storm
season sometime during
the next few days.
At 11 a.m. EDT Sunday,
Bertha was centered
about 1,185 miles (some
1,900 km) east of the
northern Leeward Islands
in the Caribbean,
according to media
reports Monday.
Storms are judged to be
hurricanes when their
wind speed reaches at
least 74 mph (119 kph).
The storm is moving
toward the west but it's
still too early to say
where or even if it will
hit land.
Bertha, which formed on
Thursday near the Cape
Verde islands off
Africa, is the second
tropical storm of what
has been predicted to be
an above-average storm
season in the Atlantic
and Caribbean.
The Atlantic-Caribbean
hurricane season runs
from June 1 to the end
of November, with August
and September usually
the busiest months.
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