SANTA CRUZ DAS FLORES, Portugal: Hurricane Gabrielle is forecast to batter the Portuguese Azores archipelago on Thursday with winds of 200 kilometers (124 miles) per hour and waves higher than 10 meters (33 feet).
“The archipelago will feel the first effects from late Thursday afternoon,” the Portuguese meteorological office (IPMA) said in its latest update on the popular tourist destination.
Gabrielle, which was still classified as a Category 3 hurricane on Wednesday evening, is expected to lose momentum and reach the Azores from the west as a Category 1 hurricane, the IPMA said.
Later becoming a “post-tropical depression,” Gabrielle will make landfall in mainland Portugal on Saturday.
On Thursday night, the eye of the storm will barrel through the Azores’ two western islands and then its five central islands, which are on red alert.
