Tropical Storm Gaston has formed in the Atlantic as Fiona strengthens
In the wake of Hurricane Fiona battering Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, the National Hurricane Center said a tropical depression spinning in the central Atlantic has formed and now is Tropical Storm Gaston.
According to government forecasters, Gaston sprang from a depression that formed 1,000 miles west-southwest of the Azores with winds up to 35 miles per hour, according to the center's 11 a.m. update Tuesday.
The slow moving depression was trekking northward at about 10 miles and could strengthen into a tropical storm later today.
It does not appear that the storm will post a threat to Florida or the mainland U.S.
As the new depression formed, Hurricane Fiona raked the Turks and Caicos Islands as a Category 3 storm after devastating Puerto Rico.
Forecasters said they expected the storm to grow into a Category 4 storm by the end of this week.
The National Hurricane Center said hurricane conditions were reported across Grand Turk, the British territory's capital island. \
The government had imposed a curfew and urged people to flee flood-prone areas. rom the center.
Fiona had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph and was moving north-northwest at 10 mph early Tuesday.
The Hurricane Center says the storm is likely to strengthen further into a Category 4 hurricane as it approaches Bermuda on Friday. It's forecast to weaken before running into easternmost Canada over the weekend.
