Storm History

On Sunday (Aug. 28), Gaston became the first major hurricane (Category 3 or higher on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) of the 2016 Atlantic hurricane season.  Luckily, this major hurricane was way out in the middle of the Atlantic, away from any land areas.

That appeared to have been Gaston's intensity peak, but winds reintensified to a Category 3-level early Wednesday (Aug. 31).

On Wednesday evening, Gaston became the longest-lived Atlantic named storm since Nadine in 2012.

The storm gradually weakened after Wednesday (Aug. 31) as it moved toward in the Azores in the northeast Atlantic. By early Friday (Sept. 2), Gaston weakened to a tropical storm as it passed north of the Azores.

Tropical storm conditions were reported in parts of the central and western Azores on Friday (Sept. 2), but by early Saturday (Sept. 3) Gaston weakened to a depression, and eventually to a remnant low later Saturday morning.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Images of Hurricane Eyes