NHC says Chris strengthens into a Category 2 hurricane

(Reuters) - Chris, the second hurricane of the 2018 Atlantic season strengthened into a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson wind scale and additional strengthening is likely through Wednesday morning, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Chris was located about 245 miles (390 km) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, packing maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour (165 km per hour), the NHC said in its latest advisory at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 GMT). Chris is forecast to begin weakening Wednesday night, and the system is expected to become a strong post-tropical cyclone by Thursday night, the Florida-based weather forecaster said. (Reporting by Karen Rodrigues in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)