Hurricane Bertha weakens

Hurricane Bertha weakens

Tropical Storm Bertha formed into the season’s first hurricane early Monday morning days ahead of what forecasters were first predicting  jumping right to a category 3 storm. However, Bertha has now weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. 

Hurricane Bertha is pictured over the Atlantic Ocean in this NASA satellite image taken July 7, 2008.

Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 85 MPH with higher gusts. Additional weakening is forecast during the next 24 hours. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend up to 140 miles.

Bertha is expected to continue heading toward Bermuda. Large swells and high surf could begin to affect portions of Bermuda late Wednesday.

Bertha is the second named Atlantic storm of the season. Tropical Storm Arthur, which formed May 31, brought heavy rains to Belize, killing five and causing about $78 million in damage.

The last time a tropical storm named Bertha occurred was in July 1996. That storm swept the northeastern Caribbean and made landfall on the North Carolina coast near Wilmington as a category 2 hurricane. The storm caused at least 12 deaths.