Forecast: Gabrielle churns as hurricane forecasting gets an AI assist

For the first time in three weeks, there is a named storm in the Atlantic.

has developed well east of the Lesser Antilles, angling west-northwest at 15 mph with sustained winds of about 50 mph. Gabrielle is no warrior princess, rather a strung-out mess dealing with shear and dry air from a nearby upper low. Expect it to stay feeble through Monday, then possibly strengthen to a hurricane as it trundles out-to-sea while posing no threat to land other than Bermuda.

Elsewhere, a couple of tropical waves crossing the eastern Atlantic over the next 6 to 10 days have marginal chances of development. As I said last week, however, any storms that form east of the Lesser Antilles in late September or October are highly unlikely to ever threaten to the continental U.S.

If one of these waves contin