Edouard set to become first major 2014 Atlantic hurricane

[September 15, 2014]  (Reuters) - Edouard, a Category 2 hurricane, may become the first major hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic season by Monday night although it poses no threat to land, the National Hurricane Center said.

The fourth hurricane and fifth named storm of the season had top sustained winds of nearly 105 mph (165 km/hr) as of 0900 GMT on Monday with higher gusts, and was forecast to strengthen further as it headed northwestwards over the central Atlantic.

The center of the storm was about 720 miles east-southeast of Bermuda, and was moving toward the northwest at 15 mph (24 km/hr), the Miami-based hurricane center said.

"This will curve harmlessly out to sea. It's already far out at sea and should continue to stay out there," NHC spokesman Dennis Feltgen said late on Sunday.

So far this year, only one Atlantic hurricane - Arthur, a Category 2 storm, made landfall in the United States, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks in early July.

In its August outlook, the NHC said cooler-than-average temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean would make it difficult for larger storms to develop.

(Reporting by Peter Cooney in Washington and Louise Ireland in London; editing by Hugh Lawson)

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