Fiona strengthens into first major hurricane of the season
MIAMI - Fiona became the first major hurricane of the season overnight.
As of the Tuesday 8 a.m. advisory, the Category 3 storm was bringing hurricane conditions to the Turks and Caicos.
Fiona was moving to the north-northwest at 10 mph with sustained winds of 115 mph.
A Hurricane Warning is in effect for Turks and Caicos. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the Southeastern Bahamas.
Fiona is forecast to move north and strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane. Fiona is expected to lift northeastward and head near or to the west of Bermuda late this week.
Fiona is not expected to threaten the U.S. mainland.
Elsewhere in the tropics, the CBS4 Next Weather team is tracking a wave located several hundred miles east of the Windward Islands.
The National Hurricane Center is giving this disturbance a medium potential (a 50% chance) of cyclone development over the next 5 days. It is moving west at 15 to 20 miles per hour. This wave may become a tropical depression by the latter part of this week as the system moves into the eastern and central Caribbean.
There is also a low pressure system located over the central subtropical Atlantic, about 950 miles west-southwest of the westernmost Azores. The National Hurricane Center says this disturbance has a high potential (80% chance) of development over the next 2 to 5 days. This system should move generally to the north or northeast while remaining over the open waters of the central subtropical Atlantic.