Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle may pass through the Azores as a Category 1 hurricane, between the Western and Central groups, causing wind gusts of between 120 and 150 km/h, starting at dawn on Friday. “According to the latest update, the center of the cyclone is expected to pass between the Western and Central groups on Friday, classified as a category 1 hurricane. If this trajectory continues, the weather is expected to worsen across all islands as the cyclone approaches the archipelago,” the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA) said yesterday in a press release.

According to IPMA forecasts, “on Friday, starting at dawn, precipitation is expected on all islands,” which may be heavy in the Western and Central groups. The wind “is expected to intensify, with gusts that may vary between 75 and 93 mph (from the southwest, turning to the northwest).” Sea conditions are also “expected to worsen, with waves 7 to 8 meters high and maximum heights of around 14 to 15 meters (from the southwest, turning northwest).” However, the IPMA points out that forecasts may still change until Friday.

“Given the geographical and temporal distance at which the cyclone is still located, there remains some uncertainty regarding its trajectory and intensity, which may lead to changes in the forecast currently available,” it said.

The information will be updated today at 12:00 p.m.

Yesterday, at 9:00 a.m. in the Azores, tropical cyclone Gabrielle was approximately 3,000 km southwest of the Western Azores, “with a minimum pressure at its center of 978 hPa [hectopascals], moving north-northwest.” According to the National Hurricane Center in the United States, yesterday at 3:00 p.m., the tropical cyclone was classified as a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with maximum sustained winds of around 195 km/hour.

Forecasts indicated that Gabrielle would intensify further but begin to lose strength from Wednesday onwards.

in Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

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