TAMPA, Fla. -- Hurricane Chris is a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds 105 mph.

Chris could strengthen a little today or tonight while moving over warm waters. After that time, the hurricane will move over increasingly cold waters, and it should be a powerful non-tropical storm as it passes south of Newfoundland.

Chris has increased its forward speed and is now moving toward the northeast near 22 mph.

Chris is already embedded within the fast flow ahead of a large mid-level trough, and this pattern should continue to steer it northeastward over the open Atlantic.

There are no coastal watches or warnings in effect but swells generated by Hurricane Chris are expected to affect portions of the coasts of North Carolina and the mid-Atlantic states during the next few days which could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.