Leslie now hurricane No. 6

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MIAMI, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Leslie became the sixth hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season but was not threatening land Wednesday night, U.S. forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 11 p.m. AST advisory Leslie was expected to drift north through Friday. The Category 1 hurricane was about 445 miles south-southeast of Bermuda with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour and was moving north at 2 mph. Some strengthening was forecast over the next 48 hours. Tropical storm-force winds extended 195 miles from the center of the storm.

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

Dangerous swells and rip currents generated by Leslie were forecast to affect Bermuda, the U.S. East Coast from Central Florida northward, the northern Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for the next several days.