Humberto becomes a hurricane in the Atlantic as Gabrielle moves away from the Azores

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MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Humberto formed in the Atlantic Ocean but is not currently threatening land as the former Hurricane Gabrielle moved away from the Azores on Friday, forecasters said.

Humberto is about 465 miles (750 kilometers) northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and is moving slowly toward the northwest. It is expected to strengthen substantially over the weekend to become a major hurricane, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Forecasters expect a tropical wave currently near Hispaniola and eastern Cuba to become a tropical depression near the Bahamas over the weekend. There is “considerable” uncertainty about the system’s track or intensity, but there’s a significant risk for impacts from wind, rain and storm surge in part of the southeastern coast of the United States early next week, forecasters warned Friday morning.

On Thursday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency urged residents of coastal areas in the Southeast U.S. to pay attention as the weather feature known as Invest 94L continues to develop, saying its staff “is ready to respond swiftly, if needed.”

Meanwhile, the center of Gabrielle, now a post-tropical cyclone, moved away from the Azores, and the hurricane warning for the entire Portuguese archipelago was discontinued by the Azores Meteorological Service. Midday Friday the storm was about 255 miles (410 kilometers) east-northeast of Faial Island in the central Azores.

Maximum sustained winds were near 65 mph (100 kph) with higher guests. The storm should begin gradual weakening on Saturday. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 160 miles (260 kilometers). One observatory reported sustained winds of 78 mph (126 kph), which would be hurricane-level.

The hurricane center earlier declared Gabrielle post-tropical, a characterization that means the system lacks typical “tropical characteristics.” But the threat of severe weather impacts still remained through Friday.

Less than an inch (2.5 centimeters) of additional rain was expected across the islands Friday and while any flooding was expected to subside, swells were expected to affect the Azores through the weekend.

Gabrielle was moving east-northeast at 29 mph (46 kph). It was expected to move away from the Azores and to approach mainland Portugal by Sunday. Swells expected to produce life-threatening surf and rip currents were expected to reach Portugal, northwestern Spain and northern Morocco on Saturday.

In the Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Narda is churning as a Category 1 storm but could regain strength to Category 2. Narda is not threatening land and is expected to lose strength over the coming days.

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The story has been updated to correct that Hurricane Narda is in the Pacific Ocean, not the Atlantic.