Tropical Storm Kyle strengthened into a hurricane off the United States on Saturday as it took aim at New England and Canada’s Maritime provinces, the United States National Hurricane Centre said.
Kyle, which developed as a tropical storm on Thursday, had top sustained winds near 120km/h and was forecast to make landfall near the Maine-New Brunswick border early on Monday.
Kyle was a minimal category-one hurricane on the five-step hurricane intensity scale and some additional strengthening was possible over the next 24 hours, the Miami-based hurricane centre said.
It said weakening of the storm was expected to begin as early as Sunday, however.
The hurricane — spawned by the 11th named storm of a busy and destructive Atlantic hurricane season — was forecast to dump as much as 15cm of rain over parts of New England, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island through Monday. It was also likely to cause large and dangerous surf in some areas.
Forecasters have predicted the six-month hurricane season, which runs through November 30, could produce up to 18 cyclones. The warm sea temperatures and other factors that contribute to the formation of hurricanes are still in place.
The disturbed weather system from which Kyle developed drenched Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Caribbean island of Hispaniola before it moved north into the Atlantic.
Authorities in Puerto Rico said at least four people were killed and scores of homes were flooded. — Reuters