Tropical Storm Katia forecast to become major hurricane
Images from NASA GOES satellite shows Katia at the right, just after daybreak on Tuesday.
August 30th, 2011
11:12 PM ET

Tropical Storm Katia forecast to become major hurricane

[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).

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Filed under: Tropical weather • Weather
soundoff (528 Responses)
  1. Emigdio

    Then tell the Africans to stop farting.

    August 30, 2011 at 2:49 pm | Report abuse |
    • Mmmmm

      if that was only so...the northern continent of africa is full of pagan religions and practices and divinations that disturb winds. You should pray for their conversion to the One True God.

      August 31, 2011 at 6:19 am | Report abuse |
  2. Glades2

    So far this looks to be a "fish" storm – one that recurves before reaching land, but stay tuned, just in case...

    August 30, 2011 at 2:49 pm | Report abuse |
  3. JPX

    Just stay out of New England.

    August 30, 2011 at 2:57 pm | Report abuse |
  4. cecilia

    wrong o – it takes a butterfly

    August 30, 2011 at 3:02 pm | Report abuse |
  5. banasy©

    ArtinChicago:
    Lmao!
    Well-played, sir!

    August 30, 2011 at 3:03 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Kris

    Ahhh, media fear mongering continues...

    August 30, 2011 at 3:03 pm | Report abuse |
  7. wes

    You asked when do we get Hurricane "Dick". It's in 2016 (Richard).......

    August 30, 2011 at 3:05 pm | Report abuse |
  8. aNN

    Hey BotchedMan i mean Bachmann what is God saying now? Oklahoma is burning and another Hurricane is coming , what did God tell you? Idiot

    August 30, 2011 at 3:07 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Max

    Everyone knows that a hurricane is started from someone flushing the toilet... or is it a tornado?

    August 30, 2011 at 3:07 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Hasselhoff

    now actually hit NYC this time.

    August 30, 2011 at 3:15 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Dan

    Katia replaced Katrina on one of the lists of hurricane names, FYI.

    August 30, 2011 at 3:19 pm | Report abuse |
  12. robert

    They should be all named after women after all it is called Mother Earth.

    August 30, 2011 at 3:19 pm | Report abuse |
  13. GG

    I am still waiting on Hurricane Shaniqua or Tyrone.

    August 30, 2011 at 3:28 pm | Report abuse |
    • WhiteheadRamona

      I am still waiting on Hurricane Shaniqua or Tyrone.@Guest, i cant believe this!! me and my sister just got two i-pads for $42.77 each and a $50 amazon card for $9. the stores want to keep this a secret and they dont tell you. go here BidsOut.com

      August 30, 2011 at 4:09 pm | Report abuse |
  14. X

    Oh no, have a flight to DR on monday....I hope Katia stays as a small storm and nothing else.

    August 30, 2011 at 3:37 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Troy

    Ignorant.

    August 30, 2011 at 3:38 pm | Report abuse |
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