13:01 11Aug2004 Tropical Storm Bonnie in Gulf, heads for Florida

NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Bonnie continued to move
slowly north across the oil and natural gas fields off the coasts of
Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama before making landfall on the Florida
panhandle, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Wednesday.
At 4 a.m. CDT (0900 GMT), the storm was centered about 265 miles
south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Bonnie was expected
to hit land on Thursday morning near Panama City, Florida about 70 miles
southwest of the Tallahassee, the state capital.
A tropical storm watch remains in effect for northwest Florida.
The storm was moving toward the north near 5 miles per hour, with a
turn to the northeast and an increase in forward speed expected later today.
Maximum sustained winds were near 45 miles per hour with higher gusts.
The NHC forecast some strengthening during the next 24 hours.
Bonnie is still a small storm with tropical storm force winds extending
out only up to 30 miles from the center.
The NHC will issue an intermediate advisory at 7 a.m. followed by the
next complete advisory at 10 a.m.
Position: Lat. 25.5 degrees North
Long. 90.5 degrees West
Track: Moving north near 5 8 mph
Strength: 45 mph maximum sustained winds.
FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAXIMUM WINDS:
INITIAL 11/0900Z 25.5N 90.5W 40 KT
12HR VT 11/1800Z 26.7N 89.7W 45 KT
24HR VT 12/0600Z 28.6N 88.0W 50 KT
36HR VT 12/1800Z 31.0N 85.0W 35 KT...INLAND
48HR VT 13/0600Z 34.0N 81.5W 30 KT...INLAND
72HR VT 14/0600Z 43.0N 72.5W 30 KT...EXTRATROPICAL
96HR VT 15/0600Z...ABSORBED
(NOTES -- Second column shows date and GMT time. To convert GMT
time to EDT, subtract 4 hours. Third and fourth column show coordinates.
Fifth column shows maximum sustained speed in knots. 1 knot = 1.15 mph. 34
knots or greater is tropical storm strength. 64 knots or greater is
hurricane strength. U.S. offshore oil and natural gas production in the Gulf
of Mexico is concentrated north of 27 degrees north and west of 88 degrees
west.)