POSTED: August 6, 2004 11:17 a.m.

Alex continues to weaken and take on extra-tropical, or non-tropical, characteristics as it moves rapidly across the North Atlantic. As of late this morning, Alex was a tropical storm with 57 mph sustained winds. It was centered at 47.5 north, 34.6 west. It is moving east-northeast at 46 mph. Central pressure was reported at 987 millibars (29.14 inches).

POSTED: August 5, 2004 4:31 p.m.

As of 11 a.m. EDT (15:00GMT), Alex was still a Category 3 hurricane with a well-defined eye and maximum sustained winds of 120 mph. The official coordinates (as of 11 a.m. EDT) are 41.7 north, 57.6 west, or about 410 miles southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland. Alex is moving rapidly to the east-northeast at 35 mph over the open waters of the North Atlantic. Central pressure was estimated to be 957 millibars (28.26 inches). The forward speed of Alex will increase over the next 12-24 hours, but the storm will weaken and take on non-tropical characteristics as it encounters cooler water.

POSTED: August 4, 2004 3:09 p.m.

Hurricane Alex continues to move away from the east coast of the U.S. As of 11 AM  EDT (15:00GMT), the official coordinates were 37.7 north, 69.0 west, or about 400 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Alex is moving toward the east-northeast at a forward speed of 20 mph. Maximum sustained winds are near 85 mph. However, afternoon satellite images show that Alex may have intensified again. The visible satellite images show a well defined eye and Alex is out running the shear over still very warm waters. So, Alex might be upgraded back up to a cat 2 or perhaps higher if this trend continues. The central pressure of the hurricane at 11 AM as estimated at 979 mb (28.91 inches). But again this pressure might have fallen within the past few hours. Alex will still affect the East Coast beaches with rough surf and rip currents today. Alex will remain a hurricane through tomorrow then start to become more of a non tropical system on Friday as it moves over cooler waters. But, sometimes fast moving hurricanes can retain their strength and tropical characteristics longer. Fortunately this system will not affect land directly anytime soon.