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Tropical Storm Ophelia weakens off Florida

Posted on: Friday, 9 September 2005, 09:06 CDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Ophelia weakened into a tropical storm and began to creep away from Florida's Atlantic Coast on Friday but forecasters said it could return to the U.S. coast as a stronger hurricane next week.

Ophelia had top winds of 65 mph (104), down from 75 mph (120 kph) a day earlier, but was expected to strengthen and cross the 74-mph (118-kph) threshold to regain hurricane status, the National Hurricane Center said.

At 8 a.m. (1200 GMT), Ophelia's center was about 115 miles

east of Daytona Beach, Florida.

It had been parked in the same spot for three days and began drifting northeast on Friday, inching away from the U.S. coast. But Ophelia was expected to loop back toward the United States next week.

Forecasting models disagreed on its path and potential intensity but one had Ophelia strengthening into a major hurricane with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph) on Sunday.

"It is too early to be specific about which areas might ultimately be affected by Ophelia, but ... interests from Florida through the Carolinas will need to monitor Ophelia for the next several days," the National Hurricane Center said in its advisory.

With the U.S. Gulf Coast still in the early stages of recovering from the August 29 Hurricane Katrina, there was some concern as Ophelia formed that it could pose a threat to that region.

But Hurricane Center meteorologist Eric Blake said, "Right now we don't have anything that takes it into the Gulf."

Tropical storm warnings, alerting residents that the outer edges of the storm could hit them within 24 hours, were posted for a 120-mile stretch of Florida's Atlantic coast from Sebastian Inlet to Flagler Beach.

Forecasters said Ophelia could trigger dangerous rip tides all along the southeastern coast of the United States.

Some of Ophelia's outer squalls lashed northeast Florida on Thursday. The storm churned up pounding waves that worsened erosion on beaches already hit by some of the six hurricanes that have crisscrossed Florida in the last 13 months.

Two other storms, Hurricane Nate and Tropical Storm Maria, spun over the open Atlantic but did not threaten land.

Source: REUTERS

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