At 0300 GMT Tuesday, the hurricane was located in the middle of the Atlantic some 865 miles (1,395 km) east of the Lesser Antilles and was churning west-northwestward toward the US mainland at nearly 17 mph (28 kmh), the National Hurricane Center said.

"Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours," the Miami-based Center said, "and Bill could become a major hurricane within the next day or so."

Meanwhile, what began as Tropical Storm Claudette, which lashed tourist resorts with strong winds and heavy rain, weakened to a tropical depression as it moved across the southern United States.

What had been the first named storm of the season, Tropical Storm Ana, also lost its punch as it moved quickly at maximum winds of 34 mph (55 kmh) across the Caribbean, with all tropical storm watches discontinued in the region.

Claudette appeared suddenly on Sunday in the Gulf of Mexico, while most Atlantic hurricanes usually begin far from the US coast. The Center said the tropical depression would weaken as it continued to track northwestward through Mississippi.

A man sailing on a small boat went missing in the storm and was presumed dead, an emergency official told the News Herald daily of Panama City, Florida.

But "much of the shower and thunderstorm activity has subsided," the National Centers for Environmental Prediction said, noting that "only isolated to scattered thunderstorms remain in Georgia."

All flood-related watches and warnings were no longer in effect for the system.

In the Pacific, Guillermo weakened rapidly from a hurricane to a tropical storm.

Located 660 miles (1,062 km) east-northeast of Honolulu, Hawaii and moving west-northwest at about 20 mph (32 kmh), it was expected to weaken in the next 48 hours, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center said.

The Atlantic hurricane season began on June 1 and ends on November 30.

Source : Yahoo News