Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.

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Hurricane Bertha appears to have a mind of its own.

Following weekend forecasts that it would only strengthen slowly into a weak hurricane, Bertha rapidly blossomed into a Category 3 hurricane with winds of 120 mph by Monday. Those winds have calmed a little, but it's still a much more potent hurricane than what was expected a few days ago.

And despite early forecasts of a track far enough west to pose some threat to the United States, it's now doubtful that Bertha will even get far enough west to threaten Bermuda before turning northeastward into open water.

The irony is that if Bertha had remained a weaker storm, it could have been more strongly influenced by high pressure to the north, and may have taken a track farther west.

The good news of the U.S. East Coast not being threatened by a hurricane is obvious.

The bad news is that a weak hurricane or tropical storm could actually do some real good for fire-ravaged parts of eastern North Carolina and southeast Virginia. It will take a deep soaking like a tropical cyclone can provide to make headway against smoldering fires in those swamps.

I suppose we can't entirely stand down on Bertha just yet, just in case there is a sudden change of course. But it appears we can start looking for Cristobal as the Atlantic tropical season rolls on.