Bertha Becomes Atlantic's First Hurricane of the 2008 Season

Tropical Storm Bertha graduated into Hurricane Bertha this morning far out in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Bertha is the first Atlantic hurricane of the season. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Hurricane Bertha is tracking westward at approximately 15 miles per hour and currently has winds of 90 miles per hour. NOAA predicts that Hurricane Bertha will become a Category 2 Hurricane later today or tomorrow. Bertha is still too far out to accurately predict when and if it will make landfall or what areas will be impacted. The current five day prediction shows Hurricane Bertha curving slightly to the north, putting Bermuda squarely in her sights and missing the US coastline. The last hurricane to impact Bermuda was Category 1 Hurricane Florence in September 2006. Hurricane Florence left Bermuda without power or provisions for days and caused widespread damage.

If Bertha becomes a Category 2 hurricane, it will have sustained winds from 96 to 100 miles per hour and could create a storm surge of six to eight feet, capable of causing widespread flooding in the Caribbean. If Bertha does hit the US coastline, it will be the first hurricane to do so since Hurricane Humberto soaked the Texas coastline and northwest Georgia in September 2007. Hurricane forecasters predict that there is a 69% chance that an Atlantic hurricane will make landfall in the United States in 2008 (compared to the average of 52%).

The first named Atlantic storm of the 2008 season was Tropical Storm Arthur which fizzled over Belize and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico last month. The Colorado State University forecast team predicts that there will be 15 named storms between June 1 and November 30 this year, with eight of them developing into hurricanes and four of those being major ones (Category 3 or higher). If the prediction comes true, 2008 will be a very active hurricane season for the Atlantic coast of the United States. 2007 was predicted as being active but ended on a tame note.