MIAMI – Tropical Storm Karl (search) strengthened Friday in the far eastern Atlantic, but posed no immediate threat to land.
The 11th named storm of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season had top sustained winds near 65 mph at 5 a.m. EDT, up from 40 mph late Thursday, according to the National Hurricane Center (search) in Miami. Karl could intensify even more and become the seventh hurricane of the season, forecasters said.
Tropical storms have sustained winds of 39 to 73 mph. Hurricanes have winds 74 mph or greater.
Karl spun out of a tropical depression that had gathered over humid seas west of the Cape Verde Islands, which are off northwestern Africa. At 5 a.m., the center of Karl was located about 820 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verdes. It was moving west near 12 mph and was expected to eventually turn north, away from land.
Karl comes on the heels of strong Tropical Storm Jeanne (search), which moved over eastern Hispaniola on Thursday and was on a course toward the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeastern Bahamas, projected to regain hurricane strength.
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