Hurricane Gonzalo blasts over Bermuda

Hurricane Gonzalo approaching Bermuda, NASA.org.

When Hurricane Gonzalo hit Bermuda on Friday, it was still a Category 3 hurricane with 115 mph winds. But by the time the eye of the storm passed over the island, it had been downgraded to a Category 2 with 110 mph winds. According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, the eye passed over Bermuda at 8:30 p.m. AST, and the eye was twice the size the length of the island.

“The storm weakened prior to landfall due to both lower sea surface temperatures and higher wind shear in the vicinity of Bermuda,” said Scott Stransky, manager and principal scientist at AIR Worldwide, and followed on the heels of Tropical Storm Fay, which had passed over the island the week before. Stransky says that Fay reduced the water temperatures around the island, making Gonzalo slightly weaker than it might have been otherwise.