Helene weakens to tropical storm over Atlantic

MIAMI, Sep 23 (Reuters) Hurricane Helene weakened to a tropical storm as it raced across the central Atlantic Ocean on a course that would keep it far from land, forecasters said.

Tropical Storm Helene was centered about 1,370 km east-northeast of Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said yesterday.

Its top sustained winds dropped from 140 kph to 113 kph, below the threshold for a hurricane, the center said.

Helene was speeding east-northeastward at 37 kph) -- a swift pace for a storm -- and was expected to become an extratropical cyclone in a few days, becoming essentially a low-pressure system with strong winds.

Forecasters were also watching a tropical disturbance far out in the Atlantic about 1,600 km west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands but said it had not grown more organized overnight.

Some computer models took it near Bermuda next week but several others suggested it would follow Helene over the open Atlantic on a track that did not threaten land.

REUTERS BDP RN0926