The disturbance that eventually became Hurricane Bertha blew off the west coast of Africa, in a pattern more typical of late summer.

At it’s peak of intensity on Monday, July 7, satellite estimates of Bertha’s sustained winds were 135 mph (217 km/h), making it the third-strongest hurricane on record so early in the season.

Some hurricane experts say Bertha’s formation so far east so early in the season, and its explosive growth from a tropical storm into a major hurricane, could foretell a very active hurricane season.

Late in the week, Bertha was churning the western Atlantic while moving in a general north-northwest direction toward Bermuda.

Forecasters expected the storm to remain east of the British Atlantic colony, but remain over the open waters off North America for a few more days.

Hurricane Bertha Track

Satellite Loop: University of Wisconsin
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