Miami, Florida—(ENEWSPF)—September 5, 2011 – UPDATE 11 AM AST. The National Hurricane Center is reporting that Hurricane Katia is now strengthening and developing a large eye.
There are currently no coastal Watches or Warnings in effect.
Discussion and 48-Hour Outlook
At 11 AM AST (1500 UTC), the center of Hurricane Katia was located near latitude 24.6 north, longitude 63.3 west. Katia is moving toward the northwest near 13 mph (20 km/h) and this general motion with a slight decrease in forward speed is expected through Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 110 mph (175 km/h) with higher gusts. Katia is a Category Two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Additional strengthening is forecast and Katia could become a major hurricane later today.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 60 miles (95 km) from the center, and Tropical-Storm-force winds extend outward up to 205 miles (335 km).
Estimated minimum central pressure is 965 mb (28.50 inches).
Hazards Affecting Land
Large swells generated by Katia are expected to affect most of the east coast of the United States, Bermuda, the Greater Antilles, and east-facing beaches of the Bahamas during the next few days. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Swells affecting the northern Leeward Islands should continue to subside today. Please consult products from your Local Weather Service Office for additional information.
Surface Wind Field
Click image to zoom in ![[Image of initial wind radii]](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/storm_graphics/AT12/refresh/AL1211R_sm2+gif/144616R_sm.gif)
About this product:
This graphic shows the areas potentially being affected by the sustained winds of tropical storm force (in orange) and hurricane force (in red). The display is based on the wind radii contained in the latest Forecast/Advisory (indicated at the top of the figure). Users are reminded that the Forecast/Advisory wind radii represent the maximum possible extent of a given wind speed within particular quadrants around the tropical cyclone. As a result, not all locations falling within the orange or red shaded areas will be experiencing sustained tropical storm or hurricane force winds, respectively.
In addition to the wind field, this graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The white dot indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone, and the dashed line shows the history of the center of the tropical cyclone.
Source: nhc.noaa.gov
