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Evolution
and Impacts –
Gabrielle formed from a decaying cold front just east of the Georgia
coast on September 2, 2007. It slowly became better organized as its motion
became erratic, and by late on September 4 the convection had become
concentrated to the east of the center. Upper-level winds became
increasingly favorable, allowing the convection to concentrate about
halfway between North Carolina and Bermuda. With a deep-layer ridge to its
north, the system turned to a steady west-northwest track. A reconnaissance
aircraft flight late on September 7 reported a very elongated center, with
peak flight winds of 55 mph about 100 miles northeast of the
center. Vertical wind shear decreased as the storm passed over the Gulf
Stream, allowing a strong convective burst to develop near the center. As
it approached the North Carolina coast, the center re-developed within the
deep convection underneath the mid-level circulation, although increased
northerly wind shear displaced the center of Gabrielle to the north of the
thunderstorm activity. Tracking
around the ridge over the western Atlantic, the storm turned to the north
and north-northeast (Figure 3), emerging into the ocean near Kill Devil
Hills early on September 10 as a poorly organized system with convection
far to the south of the center. Gabrielle weakened to a tropical depression
shortly thereafter and by midday on September 11,
the circulation had become ill-defined and elongated. Gabrielle dissipated
well to the south of Nova Scotia. By early the next day, the remnants of
Gabrielle were absorbed by an approaching cold front.
The National Hurricane Center issued a Tropical Storm Watch from Edisto
Beach, South Carolina to Oregon Inlet, including the Pamlico Sound on
September 8. As the storm
approached the coast, the watch south of Cape Fear was discontinued, and a
Tropical Storm Warning was issued from Surf City to the North
Carolina–Virginia border, which was upgraded to a warning on
September 9.
Prior to the arrival of the storm, the National Park Service closed
visitor centers and campgrounds along the Outer Banks. For about
12 hours, the ferry between Hatteras Inlet and Ocracoke
was closed. North Carolina Governor Mike Easley put rescue teams and the
National Guard on standby. Sustained Tropical Storm force winds occurred
across the coastal waters east of Cape Lookout. Wind gusts between 50 and
60 mph were reported mainly across the southern Outer Banks from Ocracoke to the Cape Hatteras area. Minor beach erosion
occurred along the south-facing beaches with an estimated storm surge of 1
to 2 feet along with significant wave action. An estimated sound side surge
of 2 to 3 feet occurred across Dare County near Salvo and Rodanthe with overwash on
Highway 12 during the late evening.
Significant rainfall occurred across southern Craven and eastern
Carteret counties, where rainfall amounts of 4 to 8 inches were recorded
(Figure 4) with a peak amount of over 9 inches at Harlowe.
This heavy rainfall resulted in the flooding of several residences and one
store in the Morehead City and Beaufort areas.
Figure 3. Tropical Storm Gabrielle
weakening over Eastern North Carolina, September 9, 2007
Figure 4. Rainfall Totals from Tropical
Storm Gabrielle, September 8-10, 2007.
A. HIGHEST MEASURED WINDS...(ALL
SPEEDS ARE UNOFFICIAL)
2-MIN WIND PEAK GUST TIME COMMENTS
LOCATION
(ID)
(MPH) (MPH) (EDT)
CAPE
HATTERAS (HSE)
39
53
741 PM
BEAUFORT
(MRH)
33
44
307 PM
NEW
BERN (EWN)
18
30
154 PM
CHERRY
POINT (NKT)
22
29
354 PM
ONSLOW
BEACH (RSLN7)
31
38
800 PM
NEWPORT
(MHX)
NA
27
227 PM
CEDAR
ISLAND (CITN7)
24
35
450 PM
SWANQUARTER
(SWQN7)
22
29
950 PM
STUMPY
POINT (SPON7)
35 41 220 PM
MANTEO
(MQI)
22
33
721 PM
CAPE
LOOKOUT (CLKN7)
30
35
500 PM
ONSLOW
BAY BUOY (41035) 31
38
550 PM
ONSLOW
BAY BUOY (41036) 31
38
220 PM
DUCK COE
PIER (DUCN7)
31
35
400 PM
DIAMOND
SHOALS (41025) 40
52
600 AM
KITTY
HAWK (FFA)
20
31
300 PM
OCRACOKE
COOP
NA
56
M
OCRACOKE
NA
61
M
MOREHEAD
CITY STATE PORT NA
47
M
DUCK
NA
32
M
KILL
DEVIL HILLS
NA
32
M
INDIAN
BEACH
NA
42
400 PM
SURF
CITY
NA
31
M
COMMENTS
KEY
M-TIME
UNKNOWN
B.
LOWEST PRESSURE...
PRESSURE TIME
COMMENTS
LOCATION
(ID)
(MB)
(EDT)
BEAUFORT
(MRH)
1008.5
915 AM
CAPE
HATTERAS (HSE)
1010.5
410 PM
CHERRY
POINT (NKT)
1010.5
254 PM
NEW
BERN (EWN)
1010.5
301 PM
CEDAR
ISLAND (CITN7)
1008.0
1150 AM
SWANQUARTER
(SWQN7)
1007.0
220 PM
STUMPY
POINT (SPON7)
1009.0
620 PM
CAPE
LOOKOUT BUOY(CLKN7) 1007.3 1000 AM
ONSLOW
BAY BUOY (41035)
1011.3
400 PM
ONSLOW
BAY BUOY (41036)
1008.6
720 AM
DIAMOND
SHOALS (41025)
1010.4
750 AM
DUCK
COE BUOY
1010.1
800 PM
COMMENTS
KEY
C. RAINFALL...(ALL
TOTALS ARE UNOFFICIAL)
STORM TOTAL
RAINFALL 9/9/07
LOCATION
(ID)
AMOUNT(INCHES)
COMMENTS
BEAUFORT
ASOS (MRH)
7.43
CHERRY
POINT ASOS (NKT)
4.52
NEW
BERN ASOS (EWN)
1.89
HATTERAS
ASOS (HSE)
0.23
NEWPORT
NWS
5.36
NEW
BERN RAWS
1.12
6N
BEAUFORT
8.30
MOREHEAD
CITY
7.70
MOREHEAD
CITY WASTE WATER PLANT
7.53
HARLOWE
(7.2 ENE NEWPORT COCORAHS) 9.03
MOREHEAD
CITY (2.9 WNW COCORAHS)
7.07
SMYRNA
(COCORAHS)
6.85
NEWPORT
(0.2 SW COCORAHS)
5.50
5E
AYDEN (COCORAHS)
0.31
AURORA*
(AURN7)
0.44
BELHAVEN*
(BEEN7)
0.24
GREENVILLE
WP* (GREN7)
0.45
JACKSONVILLE*
(JEON7)
0.62
OCRACOKE* (OCRN7)
0.34
PERRYTOWN*
(PYTN7)
1.33
WILLIAMSTON*
(WLLN7)
0.39
BUNYAN
3ESE (BNYN7)
0.32
HOFMANN
FOREST (HFMN7)
0.61
GREENVILLE
TOWN COMMONS (PGVN7) 0.42
MOREHEAD
CITY MESONET
6.93
DAVIS
MESONET
4.88
INDIAN
BEACH MESONET
2.19
SURF
CITY MESONET
0.43
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