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20 April 2024

Hurricane Danielle strengthens to category two

Published
By AFP

Danielle strengthened early Tuesday into a Category Two hurricane over the Atlantic with winds reaching sustained speeds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, the US National Hurricane Center said.

Danielle has gained momentum since being classified earlier today as a category one hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind-scale. 

"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours and Danielle is forecast to become a major hurricane by late Tuesday.

But the forecast track for the storm shows it passing east of Bermuda and turning north-northeast to miss the US east coast. The centre said it posed no land hazards at present.
 
At 0300 GMT, the storm was about 1,205 miles (1,940 kilometres) east of the Lesser Antilles, moving in a west-northwesterly direction at a speed of 20 miles per hour (32 kilometres).
 
"Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph (140 kilometres per hour) with higher gusts," the hurricane centre said.
 
The first hurricane of the Atlantic season was Alex, which left one person dead in northern Mexico and disrupted oil clean up efforts in the Gulf of Mexico before being downgraded to a tropical storm on June 30.
 
Forecasters are also tracking Tropical Storm Frank, a Pacific weather system expected to bring high winds and rains to Mexico's western coast.