Hurricane Gustav heads toward Nova Scotia

Satellite image of water vapor taken at 11:45 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

(CNN) -- Gustav, the first hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic season, was racing Thursday northeastward toward Nova Scotia.

The storm buffeted the coasts of North Carolina and Virginia before reaching hurricane strength on Wednesday.

At 5 a.m. ET Thursday, Gustav was packing winds of nearly 75 mph and was located about 38 miles (60 kilometers) south-southwest of Stephenville, Newfoundland. It was moving toward the northeast at nearly 47 mph, forecasters said.

The storm is expected to pass near the eastern end of Nova Scotia early Thursday and over Newfoundland later in the day.

RESOURCES In-Depth: Hurricane Season     HURRICANE GUSTAV As of 5 a.m. EDT on September 12 Latitude: 48.0 North Longitude: 58.8 West

The Canadian government has issued heavy rainfall and high wind warnings for southern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and northwestern Newfoundland.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the hurricane is expected to lose some strength over the next 24 hours. Gustav should lose its tropical characteristics on Thursday and become a large extratropical storm.

As a tropical storm, Gustav drove strong riptides and high surf onto the North Carolina and Virginia coasts, temporarily knocking power out on parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Six earlier tropical storms failed to reach the 74 mph mark that indicates a hurricane.