Tropical Storm Earl grew to hurricane strength on a track towards the islands in the eastern Caribbean on Sunday while Hurricane Danielle weakened to a Category 1 storm, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Earl reached hurricane status with winds of 75 mph (120 kph) at about 8:30am/1230 GMT when it was about 365 miles (585 km) east of the Northern Leeward Islands and moving westward.
Hurricane warnings went up on popular tourist islands including Antigua, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla and St. Maarten, the hurricane center said. Earl was moving westward at 18 mph (30 kph).
Forecasts showed it turning west-northwest in the next 48 hours before accelerating northward off the US East Coast later in the week, far from the oil-producing Gulf Coast region.
Earl threatened the eastern Caribbean islands with a storm surge, battering waves and heavy rains, the hurricane center said.
Hurricane Danielle once had been a major Category 4 storm but weakened to Category 1 while about 440 miles (708 km) east of Bermuda. Its top sustained winds fell to 90 mph (145 kph) as it moved northeast past the British island territory of Bermuda and farther from the U.S. East Coast.
Danielle was expected to weaken gradually in the next two days and lose its tropical characteristics by Monday night.
The hurricane center said it expected large waves and dangerous surf conditions to diminish near Bermuda Sunday and subside slowly along the US East Coast within the next two days.
"It looks like we dodged a bullet," 31-year-old Bermuda bank employee Stuart Roberts said of Danielle.
Danielle caused dangerous rip currents along the US East Coast Saturday, forcing the rescue of dozens of swimmers, according to media reports.
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