Hurricane Igor strengthens rapidly

Reuters: Hurricane Igor strengthened rapidly over the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, becoming a large and dangerous Category 4 storm as it spun menacingly westward. Igor, capable of causing catastrophic damage, posed no imminent threat to land or energy interests.

But the U.S. National Hurricane Center said Igor was packing top sustained winds of 140 miles per hour, making it a "major" Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity. "Igor continues to intensify at a rapid pace," the Miami-based hurricane center said.

…Some additional strengthening of Igor was expected over the next three days but it was expected to fall short of becoming a Category 5 storm before it begins to weaken gradually on Thursday. Computer models project Igor, which became the fourth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season late on Saturday, would stay in the Atlantic for the coming days and not enter the Gulf of Mexico, where U.S. oil and gas operations are clustered….

Hurricane Igor yesterday