Hurricane Erin weakens, but still strong storm

A satellite image of Hurricane Erin

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Hurricane Erin posed no immediate threat to land on Monday after grazing past Bermuda overnight and moving into the open Atlantic.

Bermuda has discontinued its tropical storm warning.

Reports from a U.S. National Hurricane Center (NOAA) research aircraft indicated that Erin had weakened slightly. The weather service said Erin's hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from its center, with tropical storm force winds extending to 175 miles (280 kilometers).

The storm could still affect Canada around Newfoundland in three to four days, forecaster Brian Jarvinen of the NOAA told The Associated Press.

ERIN INFORMATION At 5 p.m. EDT Monday STATUS Hurricane POSITION 36.0 degrees north latitude, 65.4 degrees west longitude MOVEMENT North-northwest at 8 mph WIND SPEED Sustained winds at 115 mph OUTLOOK Slight weakening is forecast over the next 24 hours

The worst part of the storm, with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph (195 km/h), passed to the northeast of Bermuda on Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

At 5 p.m. EDT, the weather service placed the center of Erin, the first hurricane of the 2001 Atlantic season, 540 miles (875 kilometers) south of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The storm was moving north-northwest near 8 mph (13 km/h).

The weather service said it expected Erin to gradually turn to the north Monday night, with only a slight weakening over the next 24 hours.

The storm -- upgraded earlier Sunday to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale -- did not hit Bermuda directly. The island's government instituted a tropical storm warning Sunday night, down from a hurricane warning earlier in the day.

The weather service said the warning will likely be discontinued sometime later Monday.

Five storms have reached named status this hurricane season in the Atlantic, but Erin was the first to become a hurricane.