Alberto Loses Strength - For Now
Hurricane Alberto weakened slightly early Tuesday as it moved west far out in the Atlantic Ocean.
The first hurricane of the Atlantic season was more than 1,125 miles east of the Leeward Islands early Tuesday and moving west-northwest at nearly 15 mph. It was not expected to grow stronger during the day.
"We now feel that the hurricane will stay on a more west-northwest or westerly track," said Stacy Stewart, hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
It was too early to predict if Hurricane Alberto might pose a threat to the United States or the Caribbean.
"We continue to closely monitor the system," hurricane center meteorologist Eric Holweg said. "Until it actually makes a turn to the north it's still a question mark as to whether it would actually reach the Caribbean islands or the United States, so it bears watching right now."
The hurricane's top sustained winds were 80 mph and hurricane force winds were extending 35 miles from the center, with tropical storm force winds extending out 115 miles.
The storm become a hurricane Saturday after its sustained winds grew stronger than 74 mph.
The hurricane center also was monitoring three areas that could develop into tropical depressions or storms, including a system moving across the Yucatan Peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico.
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