Isabel storms westward
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Satellite image of Hurricane Isabel taken Tuesday at 8:27 p.m. EDT
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SPECIAL REPORT
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| HURRICANE ISABEL |
At 5 a.m. EDT Wednesday Latitude: 20.9 north Longitude: 50.2 west Position: 785 miles (1,265 kilometers) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands Top sustained winds: Near 135 mph (215 km/h) Map: Projected path |
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(CNN) -- Still days away from landfall, Hurricane Isabel early Wednesday churned through the Atlantic as a powerful Category Four storm, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
At 5 a.m. EDT, Isabel was about 785 miles (1265 km) east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, swirling with 135 mph (215 km/h) winds.
"Isabel is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours," forecasters said.
Isabel became a dangerous Category Four storm Monday, and forecasters said it is possible that the storm could reach near 145 mph winds by Wednesday, followed by slow weakening. A Category Five hurricane has winds topping 155 mph.
Isabel is the fourth hurricane of the 2003 Atlantic season and the second major storm, coming on the heels of Hurricane Fabian, which slammed into Bermuda on Friday.
Isabel is following a similar course across the Atlantic to that followed by Fabian in its early days, but National Hurricane Center forecasters have not yet seen indications that Isabel will make the northeasterly turn that brought Fabian to Bermuda.
Instead, a forecast map shows the storm trekking more or less west through the weekend, coming within 200 miles of the north of the northeasternmost Caribbean islands, then taking a northwesterly path.
The NHC is also keeping an eye on Tropical Depression 14, which is brewing in the far eastern Atlantic and could become Tropical Storm Juan "in a day or two," forecasters said.
In the 5 a.m. EDT advisories, the disorganized storm was "bringing heavy rains to the Cape Verde Islands" but had lost some of its punch, with top wind speeds dropping to 30 mph (45 km/h).
"The depression is moving toward the north near 12 mph (19 km/h), and this motion is expected to continue during the next 24 hours," forecasters said.
A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm when its top wind speeds reach 39 mph and a hurricane at 74 mph.
The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and ends Nov. 30.
