Weakened Hurricane Katia to Steer Clear of the U.S.

Weakened Hurricane Katia to Steer Clear of the U.S.

A greatly weakened Hurricane Katia was expected to pass between the US east coast and Bermuda in the next two days without making landfall, forecasters said Wednesday.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center downgraded Katia to a category one hurricane but issued a tropical storm watch for Bermuda as the storm neared, packing winds of up to 90 miles (150 kilometers) an hour.

The NHC's 0900 GMT advisory put the eye of the storm 310 miles (500 kilometers) southwest of Bermuda, on track to swing north between the island and the US mainland before weakening over the north Atlantic.

"Little change in strength is forecast today (Wednesday)... followed by gradual weakening on Thursday," the NHC said.

Although the storm was forecast to steer well clear of the US mainland, the NHC warned of continuing high and "life-threatening" ocean swells along the eastern seaboard, Bermuda and the Greater Antilles.

Much of the US east coast is still recovering from last week's Hurricane Irene, which caused widespread evacuations and flooding.

Katia, the 11th named storm of the Atlantic season, had been downgraded to a tropical storm last week but regained hurricane status after passing over warmer water.

It is now listed as a category one hurricane, the lowest on the Saffir-Simpson scale, which ranks hurricanes based on wind strength.