Hurricane warning is issued for the Azores as Gabrielle heads toward the island chain

MIAMI AP A hurricane warning has been issued for the Azores as Hurricane Gabrielle churned Wednesday across open Atlantic waters on track for the volcanic archipelago forecasters commented The Category storm is forecast to weaken but still approach the Azores late Thursday as a hurricane with dangerous conditions likely Thursday night and Friday the Miami-based U S National Hurricane Center announced Waves generated by Gabrielle will continue to affect Bermuda the U S East Coast from North Carolina northward and the Atlantic coast of Canada forecasters revealed Life-threatening surf and rip currents are workable In the Pacific Hurricane Narda strengthened Tuesday into a Category storm while continuing to move away from Mexico forecasters commented In the Northern Atlantic Gabrielle was centered about miles kilometers west of the island chain on Wednesday The storm could cause key coastal flooding and large destructive waves forecasters explained From Thursday into Friday Gabrielle may bring up to inches centimeters of rain across the central and western Azores The hurricane warning was issued by the Meteorological Arrangement of Portugal the hurricane center disclosed Gabrielle had maximum sustained winds of mph kph and was traveling to the east-northeast Meanwhile the Pacific hurricane Narda had top sustained winds of about mph kph according to a hurricane center advisory The storm was centered about miles kilometers south of the southern tip of Mexico s Baja California peninsula and was moving west No coastal watches or warnings were in effect as the hurricane was expected to continue moving further offshore