Hurricane Ike hits Cuba again, aims for South Texas

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hurricane Ike hit Cuba again as a Category 1 storm with winds near 80 miles per hour Tuesday morning before charging off toward South Texas over the weekend, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. EDT report.

On its current forecast track, Ike should miss the bulk of the U.S. oil and gas platforms in the Gulf. Some models however show the storm could strike anywhere in Texas or the northern coast of Mexico.

The NHC expects Ike to mushroom back into a Category 3 storm with winds of 111 to 130 mph after crossing Cuba as it marches west-northwest across the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall in five days.

Energy traders watch for storms that could enter the Gulf of Mexico and threaten U.S. oil and natural gas infrastructure along the coast.

Commodities traders likewise watch storms that could hit agriculture crops like citrus and cotton in Florida and other states along the Gulf Coast to Texas.

(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; editing by Lisa Shumaker)