Forecasters say risk of rip currents will rise as Gaston continues trek across the tropical Atlantic. Watch video
Hurricane Gaston continues to swirl in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, and although it is expected to remain far away from the Northeast, it will likely generate dangerous rip currents along the New Jersey coast as early as this weekend, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service says there is a moderate risk of dangerous rip currents forming Thursday along the central and southern Jersey Shore, but they are unrelated to Gaston. The more severe risk starts Sunday and may last until Tuesday.
Currently, the ocean is being churned up by southwesterly winds that are expected to strengthen to 10 to 15 mph Thursday afternoon, with gusts up to 20 mph, said Lance Franck, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional forecast office in Mount Holly.
Tropical activity spikes in Atlantic Ocean
"You've got the winds that are whipping up the waves a bit, and you have a swell that is sufficient to produce the rip currents," Franck said.
The rip current risk in New Jersey is expected to go down on Friday and Saturday, Franck said, but beachgoers should pay attention to the alerts that will likely be issued later in the weekend and early next week.
In a hazardous weather outlook issued Thursday, the weather service said: "There will be an increasing risk for the formation of dangerous rip currents beginning Sunday afternoon. It will probably be a moderate or even high risk for Monday and particularly Tuesday of early next week. This is in response to... building southeast swells arriving on our shores from the distant tropical cyclone Gaston."
Gaston, which formed off the northern coast of Africa earlier this week, strengthened into a hurricane early Thursday morning. Although it could weaken back to a tropical storm, the system continues to move north and west toward Bermuda, before heading north and curving out to sea, according to the latest track projected by the National Hurricane Center.
Forecasters are also keeping a close eye on a yet-to-be-named storm system that is moving over Puerto Rico on Thursday and taking possible aim at the Bahamas and Florida.
That storm -- currently known as Invest 99L because its being investigated for potential strengthening into a tropical depression or tropical storm -- is expected to bring heavy rain to Puerto Rico on Thursday and strong winds and heavy rain over parts of Hispaniola, the Turks and Caicos, and the southeastern and central Bahamas during the next couple of days, the hurricane center said.
Some of the rain in those regions "could lead to flash floods and mudslides," the hurricane center said in its Thursday morning tropical advisory. "Interests in the northwestern Bahamas and Florida should monitor the progress of this disturbance since it is increasingly likely that some impacts, at a minimum heavy rains and gusty winds, will occur beginning this weekend."
Update: As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Gaston's strength weakened, so the National Hurricane Center changed its status from a hurricane back to a tropical storm. Gaston was packing sustained winds of 70 mph and was moving northwest at 17 mph.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.