Forecasters said Gaston will become a hurricane again by Friday or Saturday, but it is not forecast to impact the continental U.S.
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Residents of Italian towns devastated by an natural disaster were rattled by a series of aftershocks overnight, the strongest measuring 4.2, as Italy began a day of national mourning.
Spokesman Randy Smith of the South Florida Water Management District says water levels have been lowered in area canals in anticipation of the storm. As that happens next week, conditions should become more favorable for tropical development.
A separate disturbance now in the western Gulf of Mexico has a low chance of tropical storm formation – 10% – as it spreads showers toward the Texas Gulf Coast over the weekend. Meteorologists with AccuWeather suggest anyone living in the area closely monitor the movement of the storm and have a hurricane preparedness plan in place, including possible evacuation.
In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Lester was strengthening far off Mexico’s coast.
The storm is centered about 1,195 miles east-southeast of Bermuda and is moving northwest near 17 mph.
The busiest part of the Atlantic hurricane season is typically late August into September, and a recent flurry of activity is right on schedule.
Its long-term forecast, which includes a high level of uncertainty, shows it weakening Wednesday to a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour as it nears the island.
First was Tropical Storm Fiona, which moved harmlessly through the central Atlantic and dissipated earlier this week.
We continue to track a tropical wave north of Hispaniola moving west northwest.
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Gaston had winds of 65 miles per hour, and the hurricane center said the storm could strengthen today and become a hurricane for the second time. Forecasters think it could stay a hurricane for a bit longer this go-around as it moves in the open Atlantic.
