Hurricane Gaston Loses Strength; Depressions Aim for Florida, North Carolina

TAMPA BAY, FL — Hurricane Gaston has lost a little more steam in the Atlantic Ocean as forecasters continue to track tropical depressions aiming for the Florida and North Carolina coastlines. Two other disturbances remain under close watch: one in the Gulf of Mexico, the other in the Atlantic.

As of Monday at 5 p.m., Hurricane Gaston was located about 570 miles east of Bermuda. The once Category 3 hurricane, the first of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season, had been downgraded to a Category 2 storm Monday morning. As of the evening update, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was moving north-northeast at 3 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

Hurricane Gaston is on a path that will take it out into the open Atlantic. The storm is expected to downgrade further over the next few days. Gaston is not expected to pose a threat for the continental United States.

The storm that has Florida’s attention is Tropical Depression Nine. As of Monday evening, the storm was located about 195 miles west-southwest of Key West. The depression is expected to become a tropical storm sometime Tuesday. As of the hurricane center's 5 p.m. Monday update, the system had maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving west at 5 mph.

Forecasters anticipate the storm will turn toward the northeast between Tuesday and Wednesday, making landfall on Thursday as a tropical storm. As of Monday evening, a good portion of the Tampa Bay area was in the potential landfall cone for the storm.

Forecasters at Ruskin’s National Weather Service are warning Tampa Bay area residents to keep a close eye on the depression as it moves into the Gulf.

“Numerous to widespread rain and showers with isolated to scattered thunderstorms will result in heavy rainfall with some flooding issues possible,” the weather service wrote in Monday’s Hazardous Weather Outlook report. “In addition, wind will begin to approach tropical storm force on some of the Gulf waters along with building seas.”

Residents of North Carolina are also bracing for a possible brush with a tropical storm. Tropical Depression Eight was located about 150 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras as of Monday at 8 p.m. The storm was moving northwest at 6 mph and was packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph as of Monday night.

Forecasters anticipate Tropical Depression Eight will gain tropical storm status at some point on Tuesday. It is expected to brush the North Carolina coastline before heading back out into the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday. Tropical storm warnings have already gone up along the North Carolina coast.

Should the depressions manage to earn tropical storm status, their names would be Hermine and Ian.

Two tropical disturbances also remain under watch. The first is a weak trough of low pressure that was offshore of central Texas as of Monday evening. The storm is expected to dump rain as it moves slowly southwestward over the next day or so. It has been given a 0 percent chance of further development over the next five days.

The fifth storm is a disturbance that was moving off the coast of Senegal in western Africa Monday night. The tropical wave has already been given a 50 percent chance of developing more over the next five days. It’s expected to move west at 15 to 20 mph.

"Conditions are expected to be favorable for gradual development of this system later this week," the hurricane center wrote in its 8 a.m. update Monday.

The Atlantic Hurricane Season peaks each year between mid-August and mid-October. The period is described as the “season within the season” by forecasters. This eight-week period “is often the most active and dangerous time for tropical cyclone activity,” NOAA explained on its website.

The eight-week period is historically responsible for major spikes in tropical weather activity, NOAA said. In fact, it accounts for about 78 percent of all tropical storm days on record. It is also the period when 87 percent of the Category 1 and 2 hurricane days on record occurred. In addition, this period is responsible for “a whopping 96 percent of the major (Category 3, 4 and 5) hurricane days.”

As hurricane season’s peak continues, emergency management officials urge residents in coastal areas to be prepared.

To find out more about hurricane season and storm preparation in the Tampa Bay area, read these related Patch stories:

• Hurricane Season 2016: Where To Find Local Information
• 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season Forecast Released
• Hurricane Season: How to Prepare
• 2016 Hurricane Names: Is Yours On the List?
• Tampa Bay 'Ripe for Disaster,' Hurricane Experts Say

To keep up with storm activity as the season develops, bookmark the National Hurricane Center’s website and keep an eye on your hometown Patch site for local information.

Images courtesy of the National Hurricane Center