After spinning up to an impressive Cat. 4, 150-mph hurricane over the weekend, Igor continues to move west across the Atlantic Monday.
It's too early to say the U.S. mainland is entirely out of danger, but the hurricane forecasters are predicting the storm will turn right this week as weather patterns over the ocean carry it along. And that could pose a significant threat to the little island of Bermuda - 600 miles off the Carolina coast.
This morning, the storm is 940 miles east of the Northern Leeward Islands, moving to the west at 13 mph. Top sustained winds are estimated at 150 mph, just 5 mph short of the threshhold for Cat. 5.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center think Igor will begin a turn to the west northwest late today or tomorrow. It could also become a Cat. 5 storm today. If so, it would be the first hurricane this season to reach Cat. 5. Three of the season's four hurricanes to date have reached Cat. 4 - Danielle, Earl and Igor. But none has made landfall.
As powerful as it is, Igor is a compact storm. Hurricane-force winds extend only 40 miles from the center. Tropical-storm-force winds reach out 175 miles. But it is a classic, with a clean spiral and a sharply-defined "eye."
Here is the latest advisory for Igor. Here is the forecast storm track. And here is the view from orbit.
Forecasters also are watching Tropical Storm Julia, which joined the cast over the weekend. Julia is in the far eastern Atlantic, messing up the weather in the Cape Verde Islands. JUlia is expected to become a hurricane in the next few days. But from the looks of the forecast storm track, it does not appear Julia will ever become an issue on this side of the pond.