Hurricane Gabrielle rapidly strengthens into Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds

Hurricane Gabrielle continues to churn in the Atlantic Ocean and rapidly intensified into a major Category 3 storm Monday morning, generating top sustained winds of 120 mph.

Gabrielle, only the second hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season so far, had been a tropical storm most of the past weekend and strengthened into a low-level hurricane Sunday evening before getting even stronger today.

As of late Monday morning, Hurricane Gabrielle’s center was about 180 miles southeast of Bermuda and moving north at a pace of 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

“Gabrielle could intensify even more today, though some weakening should begin by Wednesday,” the agency said in its latest public advisory.

Gabrielle’s hurricane-force winds are extending outward up to 30 miles from the storm’s center and its tropical storm-force winds are reaching out as far as 140 miles.

The hurricane is not expected to make a direct hit on Bermuda, but it is producing strong ocean swells, rough surf and gusty winds on the island chain.

Even though Gabrielle is about 900 miles away from New Jersey, its strong winds are churning up the Atlantic and sending large swells all the way to the Jersey Shore and other beaches along the Atlantic coast of the U.S., down to North Carolina.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the National Hurricane Center said.

Meanwhile, forecasters are monitoring two tropical waves in the central Atlantic — both of which could become more organized and turn into tropical depressions in the next several days.

One wave has a 70% chance of developing into a tropical depression within seven days, and the other has a 40% chance of developing, the NHC said.

It is far too early to know if either of those storm systems will have a direct impact on the United States.

Current weather radar