This year's Atlantic storm season has its first hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami reports Tropical Storm Bertha passed the threshold this morning when its maximum sustained winds increased to nearly 75 miles-an-hour. Gusts are even higher.

It's still more than 800 miles east of the Caribbean in the central Atlantic and forecasters say it's still too soon to tell if or when it's going to make landfall.

Bertha is moving toward the west-northwest at about 17 miles-an-hour. The Hurricane Center says it will probably slow down over the next couple of days even while it picks up additional strength.