Arkansas Storm Team Blog: Gabrielle becomes second hurricane in the Atlantic in 2025

On Sunday, September 21, Gabrielle became a Category 1 hurricane in the Atlantic. Sunday night into Monday morning, Gabrielle underwent rapid intensification, becoming a major hurricane at Category 3 strength southeast of Bermuda. As of Monday at 4 p.m. C.D.T., Gabrielle is a powerful Category 4 storm. Gabrielle is forecast to remain mostly a fish storm, meaning it’s not likely to impact land in the immediate future. Direct impacts from Gabrielle in the U.S. aren’t expected, and Bermuda has escaped direct impacts, too. However, rip current risks are high, and beach surf is dangerous along much of the East Coast due to Gabrielle churning well to the east. Late week, interests in the Azores should keep an eye on Gabrielle’s motion.

Gabrielle will pick up speed midweek in the central north Atlantic. It’s forecast to weaken gradually through the work week. Gabrielle will become a tropical storm and then a post-tropical system by the end of the week into the weekend.

Also in the Atlantic, there are two tropical waves worth watching for development this week. A tropical wave (in red below) has a high chance of development in the next 7 days. It’s likely to follow in the footsteps of Gabrielle and is likely not to be a U.S. threat. The other tropical wave (in orange below) has a medium chance of developing into a tropical system once it moves into the southwest Atlantic in the next 7 days. Where this wave ultimately tracks is still up in the air as steering currents high in the atmosphere are unclear as of Monday, September 22.

The next two names on the Atlantic list this year are Humberto and Imelda. The most active time of the Atlantic hurricane season still has a few weeks to go. It’s classically August 20 to October 10 that sees the most activity in the Atlantic, dubbing this time period “the season within the season”. However, hurricane season in the Atlantic runs through November 30.