Hurricane Kyle Heading For Nova Scotia And Maine

September 28, 2008 6:53 a.m. EST

Miami, FL (AHN) - Kyle strengthened to a Category 1 hurricane as it passed west of Bermuda on Saturday and forecasters say Kyle should make landfall near the border between Maine and Canada sometime Sunday or early Monday.

U.S. National Hurricane Center officials have issued hurricane watches for coastal Maine.

In its 5 a.m. advisory, the National Hurricane Center said that Hurricane Kyle was about 205 miles south-southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts and about 405 miles south-southwest of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

It was moving rapidly toward the north at about 24 mph with maximum sustained winds of nearly 75 mph.

National Hurricane Center forecasters say that Kyle is expected to turn toward the north-northeast later today. That track will take the center of the storm "east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts on Sunday and approach the coast of Maine and the Canadian Maritimes Sunday night or early Monday."

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center of Kyle and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 205 miles, mainly to the north and east of the center.

Forecasters say that tides will be 1 to 2 feet above normal with large, dangerous battering waves expected along the coasts of New England and the Canadian Maritimes.

The storm could bring 2 to 4 inches of rain to New England and the other affected areas, with up to 6 inches possible in some places.

Hurricane watches are in effect from Stonington eastward to eastport and for southwestern Nova Scotia Canada, while tropical storm warnings are in effect along the coast of Maine from Port Clyde eastward to Eastport and for southern new Brunswick, Canada and southwestern Nova Scotia. In addition, those with interests elsewhere in New England and the Canadian Maritimes should monitor Kyle, National Hurricane Center officials say.

In addition, the coast of Maine south of Port Clyde to Cape Elizabeth, including the Portland area, and the remainder of Nova Scotia, are under a tropical storm watch.