Tropical Storm Katia strengthens, moving quickly in the eastern Atlantic

Tropical Storm Katia forms 630 miles west-southwest of the southernmost Cape Verde Islands.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Tuesday August 30, 2011 - At 11:00 a.m. Barbados time the centre of Tropical Storm Katia was located near latitude 12.3 N and longitude 33.4 W.

"Katia is moving toward the west-northwest near 18 MPH and a turn toward the west-northwest and this motion is expected to continue for the next 48 hours" the National Hurricane Centre said.

Accoring to the 11 a.m NHC report, "maximum sustained winds have increased to near 45 MPH and continued gradual strengthening is expected for the next 48 hours."

Katia is expected to become a category 3 hurricane over the weekend.

The 2011 hurricane season has been forecasted to have a well above average probability of United States and Caribbean major hurricane landfall according to Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray of the Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University. The season is expected to see about 9 hurricanes, 17 named storms and 5 major hurricanes. Click here to receive free news bulletins via email from Caribbean360. (View sample)