Katia back to tropical storm status

MIAMI, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Katia, yo-yoing in strength as it churns across the Atlantic Ocean, could become a hurricane again Sunday, U.S. forecasters said.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said in its 11 p.m. EDT advisory that Katia was about 400 miles east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, moving to the northwest at 10 mph. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 70 mph with higher gusts up to 140 miles from its center.

The Lesser Antilles was getting higher waves and swells as a result of Katia, and Bermuda was expected to begin to experiencing similar effects Sunday.

There were no land warnings or watches posted.

Katia was downgraded Saturday to a tropical storm for a second time.

"Fluctuations in intensity are possible over the next day or so, and Katia could re-strengthen back into a hurricane at any time," hurricane center forecasters said.

A five-day projection on the Weather Underground Web site suggested Katia was on a path to affect the Carolinas by the weekend.