Hurricane Gert Gains Strength

By DAVE BRYAN
09-17-99 1424 EDT

MIAMI (AP) -- Growing slightly stronger with top sustained winds of 140 mph, Hurricane Gert spun in the Atlantic today on a track forecasters said could take it toward Bermuda early next week -- but away from the East Coast.

Gert -- which became the fourth Category 4 hurricane of the Atlantic season with 145 mph winds on Thursday -- was about 975 miles south-southeast of Bermuda at 11 a.m.

It had hurricane force winds of at least 74 mph up to 120 miles from the center, with tropical storm force winds up to 230 miles.

``Right now, it looks like Gert is going to move toward the northwest, northeast of the Leeward Islands over the next day or two, and is headed in the general direction of Bermuda,'' said Daniel Brown, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Gert could pose a threat to Bermuda by late Sunday, Brown said.

The hurricane was about 450 miles wide with a distinct eye and could widen as the storm enters the same atmospheric conditions of weak upper-level winds and warm ocean temperatures that produced Hurricane Floyd's huge proportions this week.

Gert was moving forward at about 10 mph and was expected to weaken slightly as it meets a mid-Atlantic trough, said Edwin Campus, another meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in suburban Miami.

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