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Message: <blockquote data-quote="lkdood" data-source="post: 5389396" data-attributes="member: 92282">A weakened hurricane Bill may make one last push toward strengthening into a Category 4 storm before it begins its decline on a track toward the Canadian Maritimes, forecasters said.Bill had sustained winds of 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, down from 120 mph earlier, making it a Category 3 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory posted at 7:45 a.m. Miami time. It was 385 miles south of Bermuda and 820 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, heading northwest at 17 mph.“Bill is slightly weaker than previous days but will strengthen later today and is a serious threat to eastern Canada,” said Kristina Pydynowski, a senior meteorologist with private forecaster AccuWeather.com. “We have it coming back to a Category 4 as we go by tonight.”Bill is forecast to pass between Bermuda and North Carolina and then follow a track that curves away from the U.S., according to center maps. The storm will then pass south of Nova Scotia before making landfall in Newfoundland.“Although satellite imagery indicates that Bill has become a little less organized, some slight restrengthening is still possible later today followed by gradual weakening on Saturday,” according to the center’s advisory.Pydynowski said strong winds that have been tearing at Bill will diminish later today as the storm passes over warmer water, which may give it the boost of strength it needs to retain a Category 4 rating, when winds reach 131 mph or higher.Memories of FabianBy the time Bill gets to Newfoundland, it will still have strong winds and powerful ocean currents, Pydynowski said from her office in State College, Pennsylvania.Bermuda’s acting home affairs minister, Walter Roban, put troops on standby yesterday and said police and fire services are also ready to help residents. The islands’ international airport was open, though the government may close the causeway that links it to the mainland, he said.“Stay off the roads, stay off the beaches and stay close to home,” Roban said in a statement on the government Web site. “We all remember Hurricane Fabian,” he said, referring to the 2003 storm that left four people dead in Bermuda and caused an estimated $300 million in damage.The Bermuda Weather Service put the islands under a hurricane watch and a tropical-storm warning yesterday. The center of Bill is expected to come within about 230 miles of the islands, the agency said.Rip CurrentsLarge swells from Bill “should begin affecting most of the U.S. East Coast and the Atlantic Maritimes of Canada during the next day or two,” the center said. “These swells will likely cause extremely dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents.”Canada’s weather office said the ocean swell from Hurricane Bill will hit Nova Scotia early today, and advised residents to exercise caution where large waves break onshore.Some refineries in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick may be at risk, including privately held Irving Oil’s Saint John plant that processes about 300,000 barrels of oil a day, according to Olivier Jakob, an analyst with research group Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland.The Halifax Port Authority doesn’t expect Bill to interfere with regular ship traffic, Michele Peveril, a spokeswoman for the port, said yesterday. Halifax is Canada’s third-largest port behind Vancouver and Montreal, and handles cargo and passenger traffic.Bill has see-sawed between Category 3 and the more severe Category 4. Category 3 storms bring winds of 111 mph or more that can damage buildings, uproot trees and cause power outages, according to the NHC. Category 4 is reserved for hurricanes with “extremely dangerous” winds that can cause “devastating damage.”The 2009 hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, got off to a quiet start before three named storms formed in a period of 48 hours Aug. 15 and 16. Tropical storms Ana and Claudette have since dissipated.<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aiYR6RDUo6SA" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aiYR6RDUo6SA" target="_blank">bloomberg</a></blockquote>

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