Hurricane Bill, upgraded to a Category 4 storm, tore across the Atlantic Wednesday with raging winds nearing 135 mph, threatening a possible strike near Bermuda in a few days, meteorologists reported.
Forecasters predicted the hurricane could get even stronger.
"The wind sheer is light and the waters are warm," said Todd Kimberlain, a forecaster at the National Hurricane Center.
"Those are two essential ingredients not just for the formation, but also the maintenance, of hurricanes."
Early Wednesday, Bill was centered about 460 miles east of the Leeward Islands and was expected to pass them later in the day or by early Thursday.
The most significant threat could be to Bermuda, which the storm could hit in three or four days, Kimberlain said.
It also could move directly between Bermuda and the eastern coast of the U.S. without making landfall.
Either way, people near the coast can expect wave swells and rip currents in the next few days, Kimberlain said.
Meanwhile, Ana, the first named storm of the Atlantic season, was downgraded to a tropical depression and dissipated before reaching Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
