Katia strengthens in Atlantic

Associated Press

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.

Forecasters say Hurricane Katia has formed in the Atlantic Ocean but that it is too early to know if it will threaten land.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday that maximum sustained winds had whipped up to 75 mph.

The center in Miami is cautioning a public still recovering along parts of the East Coast from Irene not to stress over the storm.

Katia could become a major hurricane. But it’s too soon to tell if it will ever come near land.

Katia is still more than 1,800 miles east of the Leeward Islands.

The storm’s name replaces Katrina in the rotating storm roster because of the catastrophic damage from the 2005 storm that devastated New Orleans and the coast.

The hurricane center said the storm is over warm waters and in a low-wind-shear environment, two ingredients that could propel it to become a major hurricane.

“It’s got a lot of ocean to go. There’s no way at this point to say if it will make any impacts, let alone when it might make them,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist and spokesman at the National Hurricane Center. “There’s a reason we don’t do forecasts more than five days in advance — the information just isn’t good. The error beyond that just isn’t acceptable.”