MIAMI, July 12 — Hurricane Chris weakened yesterday off the US East Coast, with maximum wind speeds dropping to 150kph on an expected course towards Canada’s Newfoundland province.

The center of the storm is expected to pass near or over southeastern Newfoundland this afternoon or tonight, when it will likely become a strong post-tropical cyclone, said the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami.

NHC downgraded Chris from Category Two to a Category One hurricane.

It cautioned that swells generated by Chris, which was 570 miles east-northeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, "could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions” along the coast of North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states.

Chris on Tuesday became the second hurricane of this year’s Atlantic season.

Last year was especially devastating with hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria tearing deadly paths through the Caribbean and southeastern United States. — AFP