MIAMI-
Helene weakened and was no longer a hurricane Sunday as it continued churning in the open Atlantic, forecasters said.
Helene’s top sustained winds were near 70 mph, below the 74 mph threshold for hurricane force winds but above the 39 mph winds needed to be classified as a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Helene could spread gale-force winds over the sparsely populated Azores Islands on Sunday, forecasters said.
The storm was no longer considered “tropical,” meaning one that gets its energy from steamy ocean waters. Extratropical storms feed on energy from the collision of warm and cold fronts.
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