Tropical storm Ike grows into Atlantic hurricane

MIAMI (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Ike strengthened into a hurricane in the open Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday with winds of 80 miles per hour (130 km/hour) winds, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The storm was moving west-northwest on a path that would take it north of the Leeward Islands by Friday. It was too early to tell whether it would threaten the United States or the oilfields in the Gulf of Mexico.

(Reporting by Jane Sutton; Editing by Chris Wilson)