Tropical Storm Soaks Carolina Coast

Gabrielle Brings Strong Rain And High Winds To The Outer Banks

(CBS/AP)  Tropical Storm Gabrielle began to shower barrier islands off the eastern state of North Carolina with rain and batter them with high winds Sunday as the storm slogged slowly toward the coast.

Forecasters expected the storm to increase its wind speed slightly - but not to hurricane levels - before swiping the Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands popular with tourists, on Sunday. After a brief landfall, Gabrielle was expected to take a sharp turn back into the Atlantic, the National Weather Service said.

"All things considered, it's a pretty weak storm," said Casey Quell, a NWS forecaster in Morehead City. "More than anything, it will bring some much-needed rain."

The storm carried top sustained winds of about 40 mph as of 2 a.m. Sunday, the National Weather Service reported. But those winds could strengthen to near 50 mph as Gabrielle nears the coast, according to the weather service.

Gabrielle's center was located about 85 miles south-southeast of Cape Lookout and was moving slowly - about 11 mph - to the north-northwest.

Forecasters issued a tropical storm warning for some coastal areas of North Carolina and Virginia

Local officials urged residents and visitors at the vacation hotspot to secure loose items and to stay indoors as the storm blows through. The National Park Service closed all campgrounds on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. But they did not ask or recommend that people leave the islands.

"When people hear about tropical storms, they assume houses are going to fall in the ocean," said Margot Jolly, a lifeguard with Nags Heads Ocean Rescue. "They shouldn't overreact like that. Just relax, stay inside, and have a little hurricane party."

For most local residents, however, Gabrielle is likely to bring them some much-needed rain, reports CBS Affiliate WRAL. The towns along the Outer Banks are about 19 inches below the normal rainfall.

Both Wake County and Dare County are suffering from drought conditions.

Gabrielle's first showers reached the coastline late Saturday night. Quell said the storm could produce a storm surge of up to 3 feet, with 1 to 3 inches of rain falling in coastal areas and up to 5 inches in isolated spots.

Rip currents had already caused problems Saturday. David Baker, the Ocean Rescue director for the Wrightsville Beach Fire Department about 150 miles south of Nags Head, told The Star-News of Wilmington that lifeguards rescued about a dozen people from the water because of rip currents.

Gabrielle spun into the storm late Friday after wandering in the Atlantic for several days, caught along an old frontal boundary that stalled about midway between the Southeast coast and Bermuda. Forecasters first labeled it a subtropical storm - a hybrid system that takes power from warm ocean waters but also forms from warm and cold fronts colliding - before classifying it a tropical system Saturday.

[tnt1954]

how about a hurricane named tareyton.
they''d rather fight than quit.
based on the old commercial for tareyton
cigarettes, i''d rather fight than switch.
is it eternal death to cigarettes?
small tobacco? or is it still tobacco road?
blow it up, start all over again? the song
tobacco road was a good descriptive song
with a moving beat. i must have logged
millions of cigarette commercials watched
growing up in california where i was born.
the cigarette companies brought thousands
of shows to us on tv. growing up in california
you were either on tv, or watching it.
or both. will cigarette advertising make
a comeback? salem freshness? lucky strike goes
to war?

[Tundrajack]

Hey "SnideGrass" What the **** are you still smokin?? Haysuze H.Christ you can get off topic!! wheres the comment on the tropical storm?
tareyton cigarretes?? Come the **** on!!

[rray52]

Naming this storm as a tropical storm may be a wee bit of a stretch. I can understand the NHC%u2019s concern to make people aware of the storm, but looking at the satellite time-lapse, little to no rotation, no eye. It appears to be more of a nor%u2019easter.

[jonny_chaos]

umm, tabacco and North Carolina maybe? only connection i can see. freeform word association.

[oakishpines]

'' ... if dirt is compost, and compost with air and water and less density and more surface area becomes sort of super compost, i wonder if just removing density and adding surface area to desert gardens can improve the ability of the terrain to support life despite low water levels, or if it would make it worse? ... ''


'' ... giving away free advertising to the many entreprenuers for small tips from a few is the ultimate capitalist adventure ... ''

'' ... don''t dance porno hike naked dance dressed get sick tax world get well feed world songs rallied round the tens millions sick beds drifting the tens millions farm trail groups ... ''


'' ... god said dare the u.s. kids, jihad the u.s. kids, yee haw the u.s. kids, shock and awe the u.s. kids, and then he said: just teasing, what idiots took me seriously ... ''


'' ... it''s really funny to see them stand up and pledge someday to cure death and live eternal and then turn around and laugh and scream at those what think that eternity came before the earth ... ''

'' ... jupiter / saturn was forged in quite the mighty fire, and to think i was forged in that fire but a flicker of motion filled dust cradled in defiance of those mighty fires ... ''

'' ... eternal storyboards swimming infinite oceans of eternal storyboards ... ''

[starleo146]

Posted by rray52 at 09:32 AM : Sep 08, 2007

Hey they for casted 17 so anything with wind over 35 miles an hour gets a name to save face

[starleo146]

Posted by Lagerboyz at 01:55 AM : Sep 08, 2007

Between snidegrass and oakishpines I think there roommates instead of the floor they live on a ceiling they will come down one day I hope, don''t get them

[starleo146]

'''' ... i just never could imagine walking into talk to a bunch of police and soldiers and saying to them: ''''lets go to war in y''''alls sons and daughters and brothers and sisters schools and call it ''''dare ya'''' and see how many little kids get mugged and raped and killed'''' and then having them all say ''''sounds great, let''''s do it'''' ... but that''''s exactly what happened ... ''''


Posted by oakishpines at 08:08 AM : Sep 08, 2007

Man what is your problem I think you are a pervert all you talk about is little kids and little girls and rape and stuff I think I am going to report you and get you off of here we do not need numnuts like you.

[kevboom]

If we get another hurricane, it will be Bush''s fault.

[mycatsnores]

Man what is your problem I think you are a pervert all you talk about is little kids and little girls and rape and stuff I think I am going to report you and get you off of here we do not need numnuts like you.
Posted by starleo146 at 08:48 PM : Sep 08, 2007

Right on starleo146. I agree completely. We need more people reporting this idiot.