Major Hurricane Fiona, with winds of 130 miles per hour (215 km/h), approached the Bermuda Islands on Thursday, which it will cross tonight just to the west en route to its next destination: the east coast of Canada.

As of 1200 GMT, the mighty hurricane, which has left a trail of destruction and death across Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas, was located 455 miles (735 km) west of the islands. under British sovereignty. .

From Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada), it is about 1,210 miles (1,950 km), according to forecasts by the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

Fiona moves hacia el norte-noreste at a speed of 13 mph (20 km/h) and hopes that she will move hoy hacia el norte-noreste o noreste con un aumento en la velocidad de traslación, later iniciar a movimiento levemente más lento hacia the North.

According to forecasts from the Miami-based NHC, Fiona’s center will pass just west of Bermuda tonight, approach Nova Scotia on Friday and head into the Gulf of St. Lawrence (Canada) on Saturday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 130 mph (215 km/h) with stronger gusts, making Fiona a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale and the strongest of the three to form so far in 2022 in the Atlantic basin.

Although some weakening is expected from Friday, the NHC predicts that Fiona will still have strong winds Friday evening and Saturday after it transitions into a post-tropical system.

Hurricane-force winds extend up to 70 miles (110 km) from the center and weaker tropical storm-force winds extend out to 205 miles (335 km).

In Bermuda, hurricane conditions will begin to be felt this evening and will continue through Friday morning.

Fiona is expected to dump heavy rain across Bermuda, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and eastern Newfoundland, risking flooding in wilderness areas.

In Bermuda, the proximity of the hurricane will cause a storm surge with large, destructive waves, while much of the eastern Caribbean will experience dangerous undertows and rip currents.

Meanwhile, the forecast for Tropical Storm Gastón, formed this week in the mid-Atlantic, is less worrying, although a warning is in effect for the west and center of the Azores islands (Portugal), which will experience winds and storm surges in its wake.

Maximum sustained winds are near 65 mph (100 km/h) with stronger gusts, and based on the forecast track, the center of Gastón will move near or over parts of the Azores on Friday.

Additionally, in the southeast Caribbean Sea, showers and thunderstorms continue in association with a tropical wave and there is a 70% chance that a named storm will form within 48 hours and 90% if the term is five days.

The system is expected to move west-northwestward across the eastern Caribbean Sea over the next two days, and is expected to lie over the central Caribbean Sea this weekend.

Regardless of development, heavy rains and gusty winds are likely to affect the Windward Islands and extend into northern Venezuela, northeast Colombia and Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.