Hurricane Earl heads west; Danielle downgraded

Dan Hart and Brian K. Sullivan in Bloomberg: Hurricane Earl moved west toward the northern Leeward Islands after strengthening from a tropical storm, and Hurricane Danielle weakened as it tracks north away from Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Earl became a Category 1 hurricane on the five-step Saffir- Simpson scale after maximum sustained winds of 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour were measured by an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft, the Miami-based center said in an advisory.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Barthelemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin/Maarten in the northern Leewards, the hurricane center said. A hurricane watch was issued for the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

“Hurricane Earl will become a major hurricane over the next few days and will pose a serious threat to the East Coast as we approach Labor Day weekend,” said Jim Rouiller, senior energy meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. “The next few days will be critical because each day that passes this week without any true and sustained hook northward will result in threat levels dramatically increasing for a major hurricane strike to the East Coast.”…

The track of Tropical Storm Earl, 2010