Tropical Storm Fay attained hurricane status on Sunday after battering Bermuda, but was downgraded late Sunday back to a tropical storm, and forecasters predicted more weakening and little threat to the U.S. The news was not as good on the second major weather system advancing from the Atlantic, as the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane alert for Tropical Storm Gonzalo, which was gaining strength east of the Leeward Islands.
Fay reached hurricane status with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph late Sunday, but it was expected to weaken as it moved northward, and the center issued no coastal watches or warnings for the Eastern Seaboard. But forecasters said they expect Gonzalo to continue to strengthen over the next 48 hours and become a hurricane by early Tuesday morning. Hurricane watches were issued for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra and the U.S. Virgin Islands, with tropical storm warning issued for more than a dozen other Caribbean locations.
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