Tropical Storm Gabrielle Forms In Atlantic: See Timing

Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed in the Atlantic Wednesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The system, which is over the central open Atlantic, has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph as it moves north-northwest at 22 mph, NHC said.

“The storm is expected to gradually gain wind intensity and may become a hurricane late this weekend,” AccuWeather forecasters said in a news release.

Those in the northeast Caribbean and Bermuda should watch the storm as any shift to its track could bring heavier winds and rain to those areas later this week or by early to the middle of next week, forecasters said.

As the system moves into an area with little disruptive wind shear, it’s expected to strengthen into a hurricane over the weekend, Alex DaSilva, AccuWeather lead hurricane expert, said.

The storm started as a tropical wave that was about “1,000 miles from end to end,” he added. “Larger waves typically take longer to develop and organize.”

Gabrielle is forecast to pass north of the Caribbean islands and curve away from the U.S. East Coast, experts said.

The storm “will stay clear of the islands and the US east coast. Bermuda is the only place that needs to watch this closely,” Denis Phillips, Tampa Bay 28 chief meteorologist, wrote in a Facebook post.

Forecasters are also eyeing a tropical wave just east and southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands on Wednesday morning, NHC said.

“Environmental conditions are only marginally conducive” for the system to strengthen, the agency said. Any development of this area as it moves west across the Atlantic will be slow.

There’s a 20 percent chance of the area strengthening over the next week, NHC said.

“A tropical wave that pushed off the coast of Africa this week is struggling to organize. It is moving through an area with atmospheric conditions that are challenging for tropical development, DaSilva said.