Earl becomes hurricane, warning issued for Leeward Islands

by pankaj kumar | August 29, 2010 at 08:51 am

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Earl became hurricane level 3 warning is issued by the officials .The tropicl cyclone is inching towards the population and expected to bring rain upto 3 inches in the area with storm as well.

Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Forecast to gain "major" Category 3 status, Hurricane Earl was bearing down on the northern Leeward Islands Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said.

Earl became a Category 1 hurricane on Sunday. As of 11 a.m. ET, its center was located about 225 miles (360 kilometers) east of Antigua and about 315 miles (510 kilometers) east of St. Martin. Packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph (120 kph) and higher gusts, Earl was heading westward at near 17 mph (28 kph).

A hurricane warning was in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, Anguilla, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy, Saba and St. Eustatius, forecasters said. A hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning was in effect for the British and U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, including the islands of Culebra and Vieques.