Bertha was upgraded to a hurricane at 11am Monday with maximum sustained winds at 80mph. The storm weakened a little this afternoon as winds are now down slightly to 75mph. The storm is moving to the north at 18mph. There are no coastal watches or warnings issued at this time. The storm will not have a direct hit on the eastern seaboard, however it will be rough surf and strong rip currents to the Georgia and Carolina coastlines. It will spread rough surf to the mid Atlantic coast and northeast coast mid week.

Here is the official 5pm advisory from NHC:

MIAMI -- Tropical Storm Bertha has passed across the Windward Islands and into the eastern Caribbean Sea.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami says the tropical storm's maximum sustained winds as of 5 p.m. ET were at 40 mph. The storm was centered about 20 miles northwest of Fort de France, Martinique or 405 miles southeast of San Juan, PR. The storm is moving to the west-northwest at 24 mph with a minimum central pressure of 1007 MB or 29.74 inches.

A tropical storm warning is in effect for Dominica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, the US and British Virgin Islands.

An area of low pressure in the Atlantic is becoming better defined, according to satellite data from the National Hurricane Center.

Associated shower and thunderstorm activity continues to organize and a tropical depression could form by Wednesday

The disturbance could become Tropical Storm Bertha by Friday.