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MIAMI — Hurricane Bill became a dangerous Category 4 storm with top sustained winds near 135 mph early Wednesday, and forecasters said it could get even stronger as it howls over the open Atlantic.
It was too early to tell if Bill would veer close to shore over the weekend or swing away from the U.S. East Coast, but the five-day forecast predicted its center would pass well offshore of the North Carolina-Virginia line Saturday.
A cold front was expected to turn Bill to the northeast, but it wasn't clear when that would happen.
People on the East Coast were warned of possible rip tides and rough seas through the weekend.
"It remains a little early to write-off significant winds from Bill in the U.S.," said Weather Channel tropical weather expert Steve Lyons, "but we are expecting Bill to be primarily a coastal wave event for the U.S."
And that, he said, means a risk of drownings if people take to the water in those conditions, which could run from Thursday to Sunday.
East of Leeward Islands
With winds extending outward 80 miles, Bill at 5 p.m. ET was centered about 335 miles east of the Leeward Islands and moving west-northwest near 20 mph.
As strong as Bill already is, it could get stronger because it's traveling into warmer waters in the Atlantic that could intensify the storm, said National Hurricane Center specialist Lixion Avila.
"The warm ocean is like the fuel for car," Avila said Wednesday. "If you get high octane gas you get more power — that's what warmer water does."
Video: Into the eye The center said people in the Leeward Islands should monitor Bill's progress, though the core of the storm was expected to pass well to the northeast of the islands late Wednesday and early Thursday.
Fishermen in Antigua were advised to dock their boats.
The most significant threat could be to Bermuda, which the storm could pass in three or four days.
"As strong as this hurricane is and as large as this hurricane is, Bermuda is still going to have tremendous wave impacts," said Max Mayfield, former director of the hurricane center.
Ana spares Haiti, Dominican Republic
Meanwhile, people in flood-prone Haiti and the Dominican Republic awoke to good news Tuesday as it appeared Ana, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, had largely spared their shared island.
The two countries that share the island of Hispaniola are vulnerable to storms, with many impoverished people clustered along rivers, but there were no reports of major damage from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ana. The system had been downgraded to a tropical depression and then largely dissipated before reaching Haiti and the Dominican Republic, but its rains were still considered a potential threat.
Forecasters had revised their Atlantic hurricane season predictions for this season after the first two months passed without any named storms developing.
More on: Hurricanes
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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