Preliminary Report
Tropical Storm Gabrielle
10 - 12 August 1995

1995 PRELIMINARY REPORTS

Hurricane Allison (1)
Tropical Storm Barry (TS)
Tropical Storm Chantal (TS)
Tropical Storm Dean (TS)
Hurricane Erin (2)
Hurricane Felix (4)
Tropical Storm Gabrielle (TS)
Hurricane Humberto (2)
Hurricane Iris (2)
Tropical Storm Jerry (TS)
Tropical Storm Karen (TS)
Hurricane Luis (4)
Hurricane Marilyn (3)
Hurricane Noel (1)
Hurricane Opal (4)
Tropical Storm Pablo (TS)
Hurricane Roxanne (3)
Tropical Storm Sebastien (TS)
Hurricane Tanya (1)

a. Synoptic History

A tropical wave was at the coast of Africa on 27 July and was a well-defined system as it was tracked across the Atlantic and Caribbean over a 12-day period. It moved into the western Gulf of Mexico on 8 August.

A weak low-level cloud circulation was evident from visible satellite imagery on the 9th of August and aircraft reconnaissance on the 10th determined that a well-defined low-level wind circulation had formed. The tropical depression stage begins on the afternoon of the 10th about 160 nautical miles east of La Pesca, Mexico and 225 nautical miles southeast of Brownsville, Texas.

The track from the 10th through the 12th was slow and erratically westward with a sharp turn to the south on the 10th and a turn to the northwest on the 11th. With sporadic periods of deep convection, the depression strengthened to a storm on the 10th. The storm gradually intensified to 69 mph by late on the 11th, just prior to moving inland. Landfall was on the coast of Mexico just south of La Pesca and about 150 nautical miles south of the U.S./Mexico border. Gabrielle quickly weakened after moving inland.

b. Meteorological Statistics

Gabrielle came close to hurricane intensity just before landfall. The 84-mph aircraft wind speed measured at a flight level of 1500 feet is the basis for estimating a maximum 1-minute surface wind of 69 mph for 1800 UTC on the 11th. The corresponding central pressure from an aircraft fix was 990 mb, but a little later, a 989-mb pressure was reported when the center was too close to the coast for the aircraft to monitor. It is assumed that the central pressure was 988 mb at this time.

There were no land or ship reports of 39 mph or higher in association with this storm. The storm center was tracked with the Brownsville WSR-88D radar on the 10th and 11th of August. A few radar pictures showing the center were also received from Mexico.

c. Casualty and Damage Statistics

No reports of death have been received and damage is estimated to be minor. It is assumed that 40- to 69-mph winds affected the La Pesca region. A newspaper reported up to 24 inches of beneficial rain in the Mexican states of Tamaulipes and Nuevo Leon and flash floods were likely over higher terrain. Storm surge flooding of a few feet above normal was likely along the Mexican coast to the north of where the center crossed the coast and some beach flooding occurred in southeastern Texas. Eight hundred persons were evacuated in Soto la Marina and San Fernando on the northeast coast of Mexico.