Hurricane Gaston reforms, moves northwest in the Atlantic

Gaston will remain over the open waters of the Atlantic.

Even if Invest 99L doesn’t develop into a depression or tropical storm, Florida still won’t be off the hook, forecasters said Saturday.

This means periods of rain are still likely for portions of south Florida this weekend, with occasional breezes, but significant intensification is unlikely before reaching the peninsula.

The NHC is also keeping an eye on a disturbance in between Florida and Cuba. The hurricane center said it could become a tropical storm by Monday.

A weak area of low pressure was located between the northeastern coast of Cuba and the central Bahamas on Friday. This system is producing higher tides and rain showers off our coast today.

Gaston has gained hurricane status again.

The National Hurricane Center says the depression is located about 405 miles per hour (655 kmp) southeast of Cape Hatteras and is moving west at 9 miles per hour.

“Maximum sustained winds have increased to near 90 miles per hour with higher gusts”. It was moving northwest at 17 miles per hour. “As a result, only modest strengthening is shown in the official forecast, with the depression expected to become a tropical storm in the next day or two”. A tropical cyclone doesn’t necessarily mean a destructive storm like a hurricane, but just a rotating organized system.

So far this year, seven named storms have formed and three hurricanes, Alex and Earl. A tropical wave that has had thunderstorm activity east of Florida is passing through the Straits of Florida Sunday.

WeatherCast, part of the Meteogroup forecasting service, said the early start to the Atlantic hurricane season is being driven by last summer’s monster El Nino.