Gaston Expected to Become a Hurricane Again in the Central Atlantic This Weekend

August 26,2016
Tropical Storm Gaston is poised for a second, more long-lived stint as a hurricane this weekend in the central Atlantic Ocean.
Hammered by wind shear since early Thursday, Gaston's environment is expected to become more favorable, allowing it to potentially become the strongest hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season.
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Latest Status and Forecast

Gaston was centered about 915 miles east-southeast of Bermuda, as of Friday evening, moving northwest at about 15 mph.

Current Storm Status

A pronounced upper-level low to the southwest of Gaston has provided the hostile wind shear that has kept a lid on Gaston's intensity.
However, once Gaston moves away from that feature, wind shear is forecast to diminish.
That, plus rather warm central Atlantic water is expected to fuel a restrengthening of Gaston this weekend.
A global hawk hurricane reconnaissance drone is expected to fly through the system on Saturday.
In fact, Gaston may eventually intensify to major hurricane status ( Category 3 intensity), which would be the first of the Atlantic season.
Despite that, the atmospheric steering pattern in the Atlantic Ocean suggests Gaston will continue to be drawn northwest into the central Atlantic Ocean, then bend northeast once caught by the jet stream.
Therefore, it is most likely Gaston's center will remain sufficiently far east of Bermuda as it approaches that latitude by early next week.
(MAP: Interactive Forecast Path)

Projected Path

While over 1,000 miles off the East Coast, Gaston is also likely to generate swells that will reach the East Coast Monday and Tuesday. Dangerous rip currents are possible.
Interestingly, just after midnight Thursday morning, a late-night flight of the NASA Global Hawk hurricane drone measured 75 mph winds, pushing Gaston to its brief hurricane status at that time.
We're now headed into, climatologically, the most active time of the Atlantic hurricane season.
(MORE: When Atlantic Season Peak Arrives)

Typical tropical storm and hurricane origin areas and tracks in August. This is **not** a forecast for this current system, merely a representation of August climatology.

This time of year, tropical waves, also known as African easterly waves, line up over Africa south of the Sahara Desert and emerge into the eastern Atlantic Ocean.
A fraction of these tropical waves serve as the seed for an Atlantic Basin tropical storm or hurricane each season.
While this system isn't a threat, now is a good time to make sure you have a plan before a hurricane hits.
MORE: Images of Hurricane Eyes