Bertha becomes first Atlantic hurricane of 2008, could threaten Southeast U.S

Tropical storm Bertha strengthened today to a category 1 hurricane. The storm is posing no threat to the U.S as of now as it is far from the land.

2008 seems to be a busy hurricane season. First, a tropical storm formed in the Atlantic as early as May. Now, the first hurricane is formed in the first week of July. At 5 a.m ET, Bertha had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kmph) and is expected to strengthen in the next few days. The eye of the storm was 845 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and was moving at a speed of 17 mph. The National hurricane centre forecasts

A continued west- northward motion with a gradual decrease in forward speed is expected during the next couple of days as Bertha remains over the waters of the central tropical Atlantic. It is still too early to determine if Bertha will eventually affect any land areas.

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Hurricane Bertha

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Though the path of the hurricane is not clear, this hurricane is considerably similar to the 1996 Atlantic hurricane Bertha which had formed on July 07, 1996 .That hurricane had also started it's journey from the west coast of Africa, like the present one. The 1996 storm had hit the the coastal areas of North and South Carolina causing considerable damage.