New Tropical Storm forms in the Atlantic by Rob McElwee
A tropical depression in the eastern Atlantic has intensified, just off the coast of Africa and has now become Tropical Storm Bertha.
Bertha is the second storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. Bertha is located about 250 miles (400kms) south-southeast of the Cape Verde Islands, and is whipping up winds of up to 45mph (72km/h). This pushes the storm just into the Tropical Storm category from the Tropical Depression stage. According to the Miami-based US National Hurricane Centre, Bertha is moving west-northwest at around 14mph (23km/h).
Some forecasts suggest that Bertha could intensify into a hurricane with winds reaching in excess of 70mph (113km/h), but will probably not make landfall. Bertha may move close to the east coast of the USA, but forecasters predict that the cooler Atlantic waters and unfavourable atmospheric wind conditions along its path would prevent it from strengthening too much. However, long-range forecasting can be highly unreliable.
Bertha was preceded by Tropical Storm Arthur, which formed and dissipated very quickly in the Caribbean Sea close to Belize around 31 May 2008. The dissipating storm did however produce torrential rain which soaked the Yucatan Peninsula.
The National Hurricane Centre is predicting that the 2008 hurricane season will be more active than normal, with 12 to 16 storms, of which six to nine could progress to hurricane strength. Between two and five are likely to become major hurricanes of category 3 or above on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
