Irene Becomes First Hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season

According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, Irene became the Atlantic basin’s first hurricane of the 2011 season when its winds strengthened to 75 miles per hour at about 5:00 AM Monday morning as it was exiting Puerto Rico’s northern coast. Currently a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale with sustained winds of 80 mph, Irene is expected to strengthen further over the next few days, potentially reaching Category 3 status by Saturday, depending on how long it remains over the ocean. “Hurricane Irene is the ninth…

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Tropical Storm Gert to Brush Bermuda

BOSTON, Aug. 15, 2011 — According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, the seventh named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Tropical Storm Gert, is approaching Bermuda and is expected to skirt the island before turning back out to sea, away from the U.S. east coast. The tropical depression that is now Gert formed in the Atlantic late Saturday night, and was upgraded to tropical storm status by Sunday afternoon. As of today’s 11:00 AM EDT advisory from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Gert was located about 95 miles southeast…

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