ORLANDO, Fla. _ Hurricane Humberto maintained its Category 3 strength Wednesday afternoon as its winds and rains rake the island of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. EDT update.
Hurricane-force winds are expected to persist across Bermuda into early Thursday morning. A hurricane warning for Bermuda remains in effect.
Humberto picked up even more speed Wednesday afternoon, moving at 20 mph as its maximum sustained winds held steady at 120 mph. The storm was about 100 miles west-northwest of Bermuda at the 5 p.m. update.
The core of Humberto was expected to pass just northwest and north of Bermuda later Wednesday night.
Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 80 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 195 miles.
Meteorologists are keeping track of two other developed systems: the first being now Tropical Depression Imelda, which struck southeast Texas and weakened from a tropical storm. The second is Tropical Storm Jerry in the Atlantic, which is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday.
There are also two tropical waves in the Atlantic the NHC is monitoring.
The first wave formed Wednesday morning several hundred miles west of the Cabo Verde Islands, and is producing scattered showers, the NHC showed in its 2 p.m. update. The disturbance is moving toward the Windward Islands and has a 30% chance of tropical development over the next five days, the NHC said.
The second wave developed Wednesday afternoon southeast of the Dominican Republic.
"While upper-level winds are not forecast to be conducive for significant development, locally heavy rainfall is possible over portions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti during the next couple of days," the NHC said.
The system is expected to move northwestward between 10 and 15 mph with a 10% chance of tropical development over the next two to five days, the NHC said.
