Tropical Storm Gabrielle Struggles to Strengthen in Central Atlantic

Tropical Storm Gabrielle was finding it difficult to strengthen on Thursday as it moved through an area of unfavorable conditions. Read on for the details of the latest named storm to roam the Atlantic, as well as what is coming down the pike in this part of the world's oceans.

Tropical Storm Gabrielle Struggles in the Central Atlantic

A large zone of dry air and powerful wind shear in the central Atlantic is making it difficult for Tropical Storm Gabrielle to grow and strengthen. Gabrielle is the first active tropical storm in the Atlantic in 20 days, marking the end to an exceptionally quiet time in the basin. Prior to Gabrielle's formation early this week, you have to go back to August 28 to find the last time that a named feature was spinning in the Atlantic.

As of the Thursday afternoon update from the National Hurricane Center (NHC), Gabrielle was packing maximum sustained winds of 50 mph as it moved to the west-northwest at 15 mph. The storm is located roughly halfway between the Lesser Antilles and Africa, about 750 miles to the east of the northern Leeward Islands.

The cloud cover that had been shrouding Gabrielle when it first came to life has been breaking up over the last 24 hours thanks to the strong wind shear and pervasive dry air. Both of these factors tend to put a lid on tropical weather development.

Despite the inability of Gabrielle to strengthen over the last day, forecasters still predict that it will find more favorable conditions for growth by the end of the weekend. The NHC predicts that Gabrielle will enter a more supportive environment for intensification beginning Sunday. This is the point at which Gabrielle could evolve into a hurricane. Should that happen, Gabrielle would become only the second hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic tropical weather season.

The latest forecast models show Gabrielle taking a turn to the north before it approaches the Leeward Islands over the weekend. This track would spare this group of islands the worst of the heavy rain and winds associated with the system. However, forecasters are warning that high surf and dangerous rip currents will still be concerns for this island chain.

Looking ahead to next week, the center of Gabrielle could skirt to the east of Bermuda. However, there is also still a chance that Bermuda could take a direct hit from Gabrielle. Meteorologists caution that Gabrielle's unorganized center makes it difficult to predict how it will evolve and what path it will take on its journey through the Atlantic.

The good news is that the U.S. is likely in the clear for any of Gabrielle's threats.