Hurricane Gabrielle (2001)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

September 11, 2001 to September 21, 2001

Peak strength

Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)

Lowest pressure

975 mb (28.79 inHg)

Landfall

Yes

Accumulated cyclone energy

6.6

Tropical-storm-force wind reached

250 nmi (463 km, 288 mi) from the center at its widest

Eyewall radius at its peak

25 nmi (46 km, 29 mi)

Overall size

250 nmi (463 km, 288 mi) to the outermost closed isobar

Fastest the center moved

34 kt (39 mph)

Identifier

AL082001

Radar at KTBW as it neared land, Sep 14, 12:00 UTC

The sources count different things and are not added together.

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

3 (3 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

6

Property damage

$27 million

Crop damage

none recorded

Events recorded

38 in 12 reports from 3 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

21 tropical storm, 8 flash flood, 5 tornado, 1 storm surge/tide, 1 rip current, 1 high surf, 1 flood.

5 tornadoes recorded in the United States, strongest first.

The Weather Prediction Center attributes 444 rain gauge totals over the contiguous United States to this storm. The wettest reached 15.10 inches (384 mm).

WPC’s storm rainfall file, 1900 to 2020, compiled by David Roth.

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

A 67-year-old Florida man drowned while swimming in the western beach area of Orange Beach. The man was swimming approximately 50 feet offshore, between the first and second sandbars, when he was apparently pulled under by rough surf and strong rip currents. A person swimming nearby tried to rescue the man, but the currents were too strong for the individual to save the drowning man. Red Flags, which are used to alert swimmers to dangerous swimming and water conditions, were flying along area beaches. The rough surf and dangerous rip currents were the result, in part, to Tropical Storm Gabrielle, which was moving east across the far southeastern Gulf of Mexico.

Baldwin, Alabama · Rip Current · Sep 13, 20:00 UTC

A rain band associated with Tropical Storm Gabrielle moving north near the Florida coastline produced a small F0 tornado on the barrier island east of the Intracoastal Waterway. The tornado seriously damaged the roof of a boat dry storage building and overturned boats in the boatyard. A few trees were blown down and windows were blown out of automobiles.

Brevard, Florida · Tornado · Sep 14, 11:55 UTC

A rain band associated with Tropical Storm Gabrielle moving north along the Intracoastal Waterway moved onshore in the old downtown area of Cocoa. The tornado move northwest about 1.7 miles severely damaging the roof of a gas distributor, a bus station and two houses. The tornado damaged 6 mobile homes and blew out many windows.

Brevard, Florida · Tornado · Sep 14, 12:48 UTC

As the center of Tropical Storm Gabrielle passed 200 miles off the coast, gale-force winds and 11 foot seas over the coastal waters combined with high tides to cause coastal flooding in Garden City. The fire department reported that Atlantic and Cypress Avenues were underwater and impassable. Minor flooding due to the rising tides was also reported at Caswell Beach and Oak Island.

Horry, South Carolina · Storm Surge/Tide · Sep 15, 22:30 UTC

• Tropical Storm AllisonNorth Atlantic · 2001 · 52 deaths · $9.0 billionTropical Storm50 kt · 1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2001Tropical Depression25 kt · 1010 mb
• Tropical Storm BarryNorth Atlantic · 2001 · 9 deaths · $30 millionTropical Storm60 kt · 990 mb
• Tropical Storm ChantalNorth Atlantic · 2001Tropical Storm60 kt · 997 mb
• Tropical Storm DeanNorth Atlantic · 2001Tropical Storm60 kt · 994 mb
• Hurricane ErinNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 3105 kt · 968 mb
• Hurricane FelixNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 3100 kt · 962 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2001Tropical Depression30 kt · 1005 mb
• Hurricane HumbertoNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 290 kt · 970 mb
• Hurricane IrisNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 4125 kt · 948 mb
• Tropical Storm JerryNorth Atlantic · 2001Tropical Storm45 kt · 1004 mb
• Hurricane KarenNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 170 kt · 982 mb
• Tropical Storm LorenzoNorth Atlantic · 2001Tropical Storm35 kt · 1007 mb
• Hurricane MichelleNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 4120 kt · 933 mb
• Hurricane NoelNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 165 kt · 986 mb
• Hurricane OlgaNorth Atlantic · 2001Cat 180 kt · 973 mb

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Gabrielle