The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for the Azores as Hurricane Gabrielle barrels toward the Portuguese-controlled islands.
Gabrielle had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph Wednesday morning, making it a Category 3 hurricane. At its peak, it reached Category 4 strength. The storm formed as a tropical storm nearly a week ago and became a hurricane over the weekend.
Gabrielle developed after an unusually quiet stretch in the Atlantic basin during the peak of hurricane season. The Atlantic went three weeks without a named storm amid what is typically the busiest time of year for tropical system activity.
The hurricane is expected to weaken before striking the islands but could bring hurricane-force winds and flooding rains. After impacting the Azores, it could reach Portugal as an extratropical storm over the weekend.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the National Hurricane Center said two systems are expected to develop into tropical depressions or tropical storms by the weekend. One system, with an 80% chance of development by Monday, could form over the Bahamas.
Another system has a 90% chance of developing into a tropical depression or tropical storm in the next 48 hours and is expected to track north of the Caribbean.
