MIAMI: Danielle strengthened early Friday into the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season, followed by Tropical Storm Earl which also powered up out at sea, but the pair were still days from landfall, US experts said.
"Danielle is a Category Three hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson (five-step) scale," with sustained winds nearing 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
"Some additional strengthening is forecast in the next 24 to 36 hours."
The hurricane was 940 kilometers southeast of Bermuda at about 0600 GMT Friday, and churning northwestward at 19 kilometers per hour.
The NHC said Danielle was expected to turn to the north and track well east of the island chain over the weekend, but close enough to drench Bermuda with heavy rain.
NHC probability graphics show the hurricane curling to the northeast and staying out at sea, with no major threat to the United States or Canada, although the NHC warned that large surf and dangerous rip currents were expected to affect parts of the US East Coast from Friday.
Danielle is the second hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic season, after a weaker but still dangerous Hurricane Alex whipped through Central America and Mexico, leaving at least 12 people dead and disrupting oil spill recovery operations in the Gulf of Mexico.
Major hurricanes are considered Category Three and above, with wind speeds of 111 miles (178 kilometers) per hour and higher.
Further out in the Atlantic, southeast of Danielle, Tropical Storm Earl was moving west with winds of up to 75 kilometers per hour, the NHC said.
Forecasters expect Earl to reach hurricane status by Saturday.
At 0300 GMT Earl was some 2,455 kilometers east of the northern Leeward Islands, moving west at around 28 kph.
On the current forecast Earl is expected to skirt the northeast of the Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico, over the weekend, then turn north like Danielle.
Meanwhile in the Pacific, Hurricane Frank continued its march west away from the Mexican coast, although it is forecast to turn sharply to the north and could threaten the Baja California peninsula next week.
At 0300 GMT, Frank, a Category One hurricane, was located some 540 kilometers south of the tip of Baja California, bearing winds of 140 kph.
Heavy rain from Frank on Tuesday flooded homes, triggered landslides and damaged roads and bridges in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, affecting more than 100 towns, local officials said.
Authorities evacuated at least 3,000 people in Oaxaca, and several thousand more in the neighboring state of Veracruz, where rivers burst their banks.
BDST: 13:09 HRS, August 27, 2010
