MIAMI (Reuters) - A tropical storm warning was issued for Bermuda on Saturday as Hurricane Bertha neared the mid-Atlantic British colony, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
The warning means that tropical storm conditions areexpected within the next 24 hours.
Bertha, the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricaneseason, was stalled near Bermuda -- not yet close enough tobring significant winds but near enough to kick up the surf.
At 11 a.m. EDT (4 p.m. British time) the top sustainedwinds were blowing at about 85 mph (140 kph), making it aCategory 1 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale ofhurricane intensity, the hurricane centre said.
Bertha's core was around 210 miles (338 km) south-southeastof Bermuda, it said.
"Bertha has been nearly stationary during the past fewhours but is forecast to move toward the north" at nearly 2 mph(3 kph), the Miami-based hurricane centre said.
On that track, it said Bertha's centre should "slowly passto the southeast and east of Bermuda ... but the motion couldoccasionally be erratic."
Bermuda is a wealthy offshore financial centre and touristresort that has tough building codes and whose 66,000 peopleare considered among the most storm-conscious in the region.
Bertha formed early in the hurricane season near the coastof Africa, giving some credibility to predictions that thisyear would be quite busy for storms. Hurricane activity doesnot usually get into high gear in the Atlantic until August.
An average Atlantic storm season, which begins on June 1and runs to the end of November, has around 10 tropical storms,of which six reach hurricane strength with winds in excess of74 mph (119 kph).
The record-busting 2005 season, which included HurricaneKatrina, spawned 28 storms.
(Reporting by Michael Christie, Editing by Vicki Allen)
