Katia rapidly strengthens into a category two hurricane in the Atlantic

[News_Editor]

Katia rapidly strengthens into a category two hurricane in the Atlantic

2011-09-05 07:40:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

MIAMI (BNO NEWS) -- Tropical Storm Katia rapidly strengthened into a category two hurricane on Sunday morning, forecasters said, and the storm could become a major hurricane on Monday.

Katia emerged in the far eastern Atlantic last Monday as a tropical depression, before slowly strengthening into a hurricane. Dry air and shear caused the storm to weaken several times before the system quickly restrengthened into a category two hurricane on Sunday.

As of 5 p.m. AST (2100 GMT) on Sunday, the center of Katia was located about 365 miles (590 kilometers) north-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. It is moving toward the northwest at a speed near 12 miles (19 kilometers) per hour, with a slight decrease in forward speed expected through Tuesday.

Maximum sustained winds of Katia have increased to 105 miles (165 kilometers) per hour, with higher gusts, making it a category two hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. Further strengthening is expected on Monday.

"The period of rapid intensification may have leveled off a bit, but environmental conditions still appear favorable for additional strengthening," said Robbie Berg, a hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC). "The only apparent negative factors for this are relatively warm upper-tropospheric temperatures and lower oceanic heat content values along the forecast path, especially from days 3 through 5."

Nonetheless, Katia is forecast to become a major category three hurricane on early Monday before it starts to weaken back to a category two. The hurricane is expected to move several hundred miles (kilometers) off the U.S. East Coast, which is likely to cause rip currents.

"Long-period swells associated with Katia are already approaching parts of the East Coast of the United States," Berg said. "Even if Katia does not directly impact the United States, the threat for high surf and rip currents along East Coast beaches is expected to increase over the next several days."

Katia was added to this year's rotating storm roster to replace Katrina which killed more than 1,800 people in August 2005 when it made landfall near the Louisiana-Mississippi border. Storm names are retired when they cause a large number of fatalities.

Katia is the eleventh named storm of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, and was followed by Tropical Storm Lee which made landfall in Louisiana on early Sunday morning.

According to figures released last month, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is expecting an above-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. The outlook calls for 14 to 19 named storms, with seven to ten becoming hurricanes and three to five expected to become a major hurricane (category 3 or higher).

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 11 named storms, with six becoming hurricanes and two becoming major hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 through November 30, with peak activity in September.

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