Bill has maximum winds of 160 km/h

BLOOMBERG: Bill is predicted to gain major-hurricane status, with winds of at least 111 mph, within 48 hours.

While the storm may cause high surf in Bermuda on Aug. 22 and pass close to Cape Cod, it’s unlikely to hit land until it gets to Nova Scotia or Newfoundland in Canada, said Matthew Rinde, a meteorologist at AccuWeather.com.

“At this point it looks like Bill’s going to split the difference between Bermuda and the U.S.,” Rinde said today in a telephone interview from State College, Pennsylvania. “It will still be a powerful system moving northwards and may bring very heavy rainfall and 60 mph gusts to Canada.”

clipped from edition.cnn.com MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Bill blew toward land early Tuesday, edging closer to the West Indies with near 100 mph winds and the potential for developing into a major hurricane. The National Hurricane Center expected Bill to strengthen over the next 48 hours. Various weather models showed the storm either missing or grazing the west side of Bermuda as it heads toward the U.S. East Coast, CNN meteorologists said Tuesday. The models showed Bill's path moving dangerously close to the Carolina coast and the Northeast, with the best scenario showing the storm turning back to sea before reaching the United States. Track Hurricane Bill's path across the Atlantic » Bill is the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season. About 5 a.m. Tuesday, Bill was heading west-northwest near 17 mph and was predicted to follow that path for the next two days. The storm was centered about 810 miles east of the Leeward Islands, a chain located where the Caribbean meets the western Atlantic.