August 29, 2016
MIAMI (AFP) - Hurricane Gaston surged to a Category Three storm, the first major hurricane of the Atlantic season, the National Hurricane Center said Sunday.
Gaston, packing top sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour, was stationary about 575 miles from Bermuda, the Miami-based NHC said at 0300 GMT Monday.
"Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 35 miles from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles," it added.
The storm was not an immediate threat to land, and was expected to remain at its current strength for the next 47 hours, forecasters said.
Storms of Category Three and higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale are considered major. They have top sustained winds of at least 111-129 miles per hour.
According to the NHC forecast, Gaston will soon move northeast into the open Atlantic.
Separately, the NHC is tracking two tropical depressions that could strengthen into tropical storms and hit the US mainland.
Tropical Depression Eight is located in the Atlantic off the coast of North Carolina, and a tropical storm watch has been issued for parts of that state's coastline.
The storm is forecast to glance the North Carolina coastline then move northeast along the US coastline.
And Tropical Depression Nine, located off the north-western coast of Cuba, was forecast to head into the Gulf of Mexico and then turn north-east towards the Florida panhandle.
