Hurricane Gaston Becomes Major Storm; Depressions Aim at Florida, North Carolina

TAMPA BAY, FL — Update: For the latest on Hurricane Gaston and the other storms in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, check out this related story: Hurricane Gaston Weakens; Depressions Aim for Florida, North Carolina.

Earlier:

Hurricane Gaston was upgraded to a Category 3 storm Sunday afternoon as a system moving toward Florida gained tropical depression strength. The National Hurricane Center is also closely monitoring a depression moving toward North Carolina and two other tropical disturbances.

As of Sunday at 5 p.m., Hurricane Gaston was located about 540 miles east of Bermuda. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, making it a Category 3 hurricane. The storm is the first major hurricane of the 2016 Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Hurricane Gaston was moving northwest at 5 mph. Forecasters anticipate Gaston will make an eastward turn and head out into the open Atlantic over the next few days.

The disturbance that has Florida’s attention was upgraded as of 5 p.m. to tropical depression status. The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph and was moving west at 9 mph. The system is expected to make its way into the Gulf of Mexico sometime on Monday, “where environmental conditions could become somewhat more conducive for development,” forecasters wrote in Sunday’s Tropical Weather Outlook report.

In the Tampa Bay area, forecasters anticipate the storm will be a rainmaker for the region throughout much of the week ahead.

“This low will slowly move north over the central eastern Gulf, dragging deep tropical moisture across the area for much for much of the week,” the National Weather Service’s Ruskin office warned in its Sunday morning Hazardous Weather Outlook report. “This will produce scattered to numerous showers and isolated to scattered thunderstorms with the greatest threat heavy rainfall and localized flooding.”

As of Sunday afternoon, forecasters anticipated strong rain chances daily starting Monday for folks in the Tampa Bay area.

Meanwhile, a disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico located near the upper Texas coast is producing shower and thunderstorm activity. That storm is expected to move slowly southwest over the next few days. It's been given a 10 percent chance of further development.

Another storm, located about 250 miles west of Bermuda, is continuing on a course that may bring it to North Carolina later this week. The storm has been given a 100 percent chance of developing further over the next two days. As of 10:15 a.m. Sunday, the storm had been upgraded to tropical depression status and was packing maximum sustained winds of 35 mph.

Forecasters anticipate the depression will become a tropical storm sometime between Monday and Tuesday. On its present track, the storm would brush the coast of North Carolina before moving north along the Eastern Seaboard. It is expected to turn east and head into the Atlantic by midweek.

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

The newcomer on the scene is a tropical wave anticipated to move off the coast of Africa on Tuesday. “Conditions are expected to be favorable for development of this system later this week while it moves westward at 15 to 20 mph over the tropical eastern Atlantic,” forecasters warned Sunday. The storm has already been given a 50 percent chance of further development over the next five days.

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 throughout Tampa Bay to be prepared.

To find out more about hurricane season and storm preparation, 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