In their Tuesday evening advisory, National Hurricane Center forecasters said the hurricane was headed northeast at about 12 mph and is expected to speed up over the next couple of days. Gert became a hurricane late Monday and marks the season's second as the Atlantic enters what has historically been its peak for churning out hurricanes.
Far across the Atlantic, forecasters are watching two other waves making their way west.
About 1,000 miles east of the Antilles, a stretched-out low-pressure system packing showers and thunderstorms and heading west between 15 and 20 mph is expected to reach the Caribbean by Friday. The system could strengthen into a tropical depression as it crosses warm tropical waters. Because it is so long, models are having difficulty positioning a potential eye and complicating forecasts.
But hurricane center forecasters said unfavorable conditions are likely to weaken the wave once it enters the Caribbean Sea.
A second wave off the west coast of Africa and also moving between 15 and 20 mph could also gather strength as it moves west. Tuesday afternoon, forecasters gave both waves a 40 percent chance of forming over the next five days.
Gert's sustained winds remained at 80 mph, but could speed up slightly as the storm intensifies before it begins to weaken Thursday, forecasters said. Hurricane force winds extended 25 miles from the compact storm while tropical winds reached 115 miles.
Over the next couple of days, swells from the storm may produce dangerous rip currents and surf from North Carolina to Long Island as well as Bermuda, forecasters warned.
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