It's now Gabrielle!

As of late Friday night, the developing Atlantic storm is now Subtropical Storm Gabrielle. The hurricane hunters could not find a well-defined circulation, but satellite images during the evening showed some organization and the National Hurricane Center went ahead and designated it a subtropical storm. It does not have true tropical characteristics at this point, and therefore the designation of "subtropical." The maximum sustained winds are at 45 mph and some strengthening is possible. However, there are a couple of factors working against the storm, one being very dry air to the south and west in the upper levels and some vertical wind shear. Even so, Gabrielle could very well become tropical in nature before making a run at the East Coast. Tropical storm watches are up from Edisto Beach, SC north to Oregon Inlet, NC. The hurricane model suite continues to favor a track to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and then recurvature around a building ridge to the east of the storm. This would keep any significant impact confined to coastal communities.