Several watches and warnings were issued for the islands between August 26 and 27; however, due to the northward turn, Gustav did not directly impact the region.

By 0600 UTC on August 24, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) estimated that the wave spawned Tropical Depression Eight roughly 965 miles (1,553 km) east of Barbados.

Not long after attaining hurricane-status, the ridge steering Gustav to the west began to break down, causing the hurricane to slowly turn towards the north.

[5] Around 0600 UTC on August 31, Hurricane Gustav reached its peak intensity with winds of 120 mph (190 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 956 mbar (956 hPa; 28.2 inHg), making it the strongest storm of the season.

The trough located west of Gustav began accelerating late on September 2, causing the hurricane to track towards the northeast, away from Newfoundland.

[3] By this time, Gustav had entered the Canadian Hurricane Centres area of responsibility, leading to them initiating advisories on the weakening storm.

[9] Supermarkets, hardware stores, banks, and pharmacies were specially opened for residents to purchase plywood, canned food, bottled water, and other hurricane kit items.

[10] Around 1300 UTC on August 27, the hurricane watch for Dominica and Martinique was discontinued as Gustav no longer posed a direct threat to the islands.

[4] On August 30, the Egyptian motorship Raseltin encountered rough seas in relation to Gustav, and the hull of the ship was damaged.

[11] The remnants of Gustav severely impacted a seismic research operation off the coast of the United Kingdom which took place between August 25 and September 12.