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                 Hurricane Joaquin Upgraded to Category 3 Storm

   by VOA News

   Hurricane Joaquin has been upgraded to a Category 3 storm as it
   approaches the Bahamas.

   The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Wednesday that
   Joaquin's winds have increased to a sustained speed of about 185
   kilometers per hour.

   The center says the storm may turn northwest after passing through the
   central and northwestern Bahamas and head for the mid-Atlantic states
   on the eastern U.S. coast.

   A hurricane warning has been issued for Grand Bahama and New Providence
   islands, where much of the population is concentrated.

   Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami predict the storm
   will pass over the Bahamas Thursday and Friday. The long-term forecast
   for the storm predicts it may approach the U.S. coastline by Sunday.

   Joaquin's track after the Bahamas is difficult to forecast. But at
   least one computer model has it going straight into the Chesapeake Bay
   of Virginia and Maryland Sunday and Monday as a Category 2 storm, which
   would be bad news for such major inland cities as Washington,
   Baltimore, and Philadelphia.

   Another track has it going out to sea, away from the coast.
   Separately, a low pressure system stalled over the eastern seaboard is
   forecast to drench coastal cites Thursday and Friday with several
   centimeters of rain.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/hurricane-joaquin-upgraded-to-categor
   y-3-storm/2986879.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/hurricane-joaquin-upgraded-to-category-3-storm/2986879.html