MIAMI, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Forecasters issued a hurricane warning for the Puerto Rican islands of Culabra and Vieques as Hurricane Earl gained strength Monday.
Earl, with winds of 120 mph, was about 150 miles east-northeast of San Juan, Puerto Rico and moving toward the west-northwest at 15 mph, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. EDT advisory.
The Category 2 hurricane was forecast to gather strength and become a major hurricane Monday night or Tuesday morning, the NHC said.
Hurricane warnings for Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis have been downgraded to tropical storm warnings, the Hurricane Center said.
If Earl remained on its forecast track, its center would pass near or over the northernmost Leeward Islands Monday morning and near the Virgin Islands Monday afternoon or evening, NHC said. UPI
