Tropical Storm Katia strengthens over eastern Atlantic: NHC

30/08/2011 - 14:45

(Reuters) - Tropical Storm Katia is slowly strengthening over the eastern tropical Atlantic, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Tuesday.

At about 11:00 a.m. ET (1500 GMT), the storm was located about 630 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands, packing maximum sustained winds of about 45 miles per hour, the NHC said.

Katia is expected to become a hurricane by late Wednesday or early Thursday, the NHC added.

(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by Marguerita Choy)