"Bertha" may be Atlantic-Caribbean season's 1st hurricane

BEIJING, July 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Tropical storm Bertha, which is approaching warmer waters, may strengthen into the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season sometime during the next few days.

At 11 a.m. EDT Sunday, Bertha was centered about 1,185 miles (some 1,900 km) east of the northern Leeward Islands in the Caribbean, according to media reports Monday.

Storms are judged to be hurricanes when their wind speed reaches at least 74 mph (119 kph).

The storm is moving toward the west but it's still too early to say where or even if it will hit land.

Bertha, which formed on Thursday near the Cape Verde islands off Africa, is the second tropical storm of what has been predicted to be an above-average storm season in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

The Atlantic-Caribbean hurricane season runs from June 1 to the end of November, with August and September usually the busiest months.

(Agencies)