[Updated at 11:12 p.m. ET] Tropical Storm Katia was strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday and could become a hurricane on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
In its 11 p.m. ET advisory, the hurricane center said Katia has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph - up from 45 mph 12 hours earlier. The storm was in the open Atlantic about 1,700 miles east-southeast of the Caribbean Sea's Leeward Islands.
Katia was moving west-northwest near 22 mph. That general motion was expected to continue for the next two days, though the forward speed could decrease, the hurricane center said.
Katia could grow into a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph by Saturday evening, perhaps more than 500 miles east of the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico, the hurricane center said. It is too early to predict whether the storm will threaten land.
Category 3 hurricanes have maximum sustained winds of 111 to 130 mph.
Katia is the storm name that replaced Katrina in the revolving list of names, according to the center. The list of Atlantic hurricane names is repeated every seven years, and this year the list that was used in 2005 is being reused.
A storm name is retired if it is used for a hurricane that caused major damage, as Katrina did to the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005.
"The only time that there is a change is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for obvious reasons of sensitivity," the hurricane center said.
[Updated at 5:42 p.m. ET] Tropical Storm Katia was strengthening in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday and could become a hurricane on Wednesday, the National Hurricane Center said.
In its 5 p.m. ET advisory, the hurricane center said Katia has maximum sustained winds of 60 mph - up from 45 mph six hours earlier. The storm was about 750 miles west of the southernmost of the Cape Verde Islands, which are hundreds of miles off the west coast of Africa.
Katia was moving west-northwest near 20 mph.
[Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET] In its 11 a.m. ET advisory, the hurricane center said Katia has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. The storm was in the open Atlantic about 630 miles west-southwest of the southernmost of the Cape Verde Islands. It was moving west-northwest at 18 mph. That general motion was expected to continue for the next few days.
[Updated at 5:25 a.m. ET] Tropical Storm Katia barreled across the Atlantic Ocean early Tuesday and is expected to intensify and accelerate, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said.
As of 5 a.m. ET, Katia was about 535 miles (855 kilometers) west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands and carried maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 kph).
doomsday if it hits east coast no way can they take two hurricanes one after another.
This is not a good time for the east coast to have another hurricane. Especially when school is starting
I am not a scientist so I don't say for sure there is or there isn't global warming. But if you notice it's the ignoramuses in the republican party that don't believe it at all, because they are all experts of course. The only reason they don't believe in global warming is that they don't want to put any pollution regulations against the country's largest corporate polluters so that these companies can continue dumping their waste into rivers, canals, etc. 
The news media need to stop calling this storm a hurricane. It was nothing more than a tropical storm which produces lots of rain and wind. People should not build nor live in low-lying drainage areas. Diaster waiting to happen.
This is the act of GOD that is punishing everyone on the east coast for allowing gays to live there. Don't think your safe anywhere, any where that gay people live you will see disasters.
lol, My guess is, you're a troll or you need major psychiatric help.
What can I say... beautiful name!
NYC EVACUATE NOW!!! leave the City it's NOT safe...
Is it the Global Warming god out to make a point, all these storms, floods, droughts, tornados, record heat? Just like the climatologists have been warning all these years. Oh GW god are you more powerful than the Rain God people in the drought states have been praying to?
No, It is the real GOD, the one and only GOD, JESUS CHRIST. We must turn back to him now for it is going to get worse and worse until we do. If we don't; Oh Well! Amen!
Wrong. No such thing as "God". Never was, never will be.
Hey Lin hope when you die you'll get to go to heaven and visit with all those folks that you loved and left reality before
you. See if you can send us a sign. Pehaps a nice drought or maybe a hurricane named after you. Keep the faith
There is going to be a massive earquake in Las Vegas Nevada next week and other weather related catastrophic events no one will be safe and the governments are not telling you the truth, people will die in massive numbers sorry I wish my prophecies were different.
lol
Learn to spell Moroms!
Oh the irony...
Brace for the worst my dear readers as respect and admire each one of you for taking the time anx stand for the truth within your hearts.
Bless you
I'm Irene's other friend. The really big fat sister that is pushy and wants to visit your part of the country.
Let's hope Katia is headed straight for Eric Cantor's house.
Hey, whoever wrote this article is mistaken about Katrina, it hit the Mississippi Gulf Coast, not New Orleans. New Orleans was the victim of a poorly maintained levy system that failed due to being weakened by Katrina.
I apologize for that post up there, I was sitting at work and went to make a post when I had to leave and one of my co workers went and post that. I do not think that in anyway. Now for my intended post. While I agree it’s risky to build in low -lying areas you can't not build somewhere for fear of what may happen, if that were the case then no one should build in any earth quake regions, or anywhere in the Midwest because of tornados. This is just a insane thought, any where you live you may see a disaster and while yes some areas are more prone to them than others we must just keep on living and enjoy life as best we can and take the bad with the good, When these disasters strike we must depend on the rest of the people who are not affected to come and help out. My thoughts go out for everyone who was affected by this deserter and any other one. Good luck to you all.
Get back to work you lazy cow. Millions are out of work and could do your job better than you are right now.
@Alcash, well said. There is no so-called safe place to live in the USA. Every state has weather and other issues. We just have to find a place to live and make the best of it. My prayers and support to all effected by a natural disaster.