...ERNESTO STRENGTHENS TO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE AS IT APPROACHES BERMUDA... ...PREPARATIONS ON BERMUDA SHOULD BE COMPLETED BEFORE FRIDAY AFTERNOON... As of 11:00 PM AST Thu Aug 15 the center of Ernesto was located near 27.1, -68.1 with movement NNE at 14 mph. The minimum central pressure was 968 mb with maximum sustained winds of about 100 mph.