Karina remains a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday, however, forecasters say the storm is expected to resume a weakening trend, National Hurricane Center forecasters in Miami said. ADVERTISING Karina remains a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday, however, forecasters say the
Karina remains a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday, however, forecasters say the storm is expected to resume a weakening trend, National Hurricane Center forecasters in Miami said.
At 5 a.m. Saturday, Karina was packing maximum sustained winds of 80 mph with higher gusts and moving toward the northeast at 7 mph, forecasters said.
The storm should start to gradually weaken Saturday as it encounters wind shear, forecasters said. Hurricane-force winds currently extended outward up to 10 miles and tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles. The storm is expected to be downgraded to a remnant low early next week.
National Hurricane Center officials in May predicted 14 to 20 named storms and seven to 11 hurricanes — including three to six major hurricanes — to form this year in the Eastern Pacific Basin. Overall, they gave the 2014 season a 50 percent chance of being above normal, 40 percent chance of being near-normal and a 10 percent chance of being below normal.
The Eastern Pacific averages 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four major hurricanes each year, according to the center.
The Eastern Pacific hurricane season began May 15 and ends Nov. 30.
