. . . June
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Hurricane Igor Heading Toward Bermuda as Island Prepares for `Direct Hit'
Bloomberg:
Hurricane Igor made its way toward Bermuda today with the island nation expected to take a “direct hit” from the weather system, the National Hurricane Center said.
Igor, a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, is expected by forecasters to pass within 11.5 miles (18.5 kilometers) of the island early next week.
“We have all heard the reports from the Bermuda Weather Service that this storm will be a long and punishing one and the potential for injury and physical damage is great,” said David Burch, Bermuda’s minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Housing, in an e-mailed statement.
Five hurricanes with Category 3 winds of 111 mph have formed in the Atlantic this year, part of a total of 11 named storms with winds of 39 mph or more. The average Atlantic season produces 11 named storms from June 1 through Nov. 30, two of them major hurricanes, according to Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman for the hurricane center.
Bermuda issued a hurricane warning for Igor, which has sustained winds of 100 miles per hour (160 kilometers) and is about 360 miles south of the island, the U.S. center said in its latest advisory. The system was moving at 14 mph, headed northwest.
While Igor weakened from a more powerful Category 3 storm yesterday, the hurricane center said it may regain some of its lost power on the way to Bermuda.
“This storm is one that should be taken extremely seriously,” Mark Guishard, director of Bermuda’s weather service, said in a statement. “Make no mistake, even if the center of this system misses the island, we will experience significant impacts.”
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