 Tropical Storm Gabrielle was a short @-@ lived tropical cyclone that passed over North Carolina before tracking out to sea . The seventh named storm of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season , Gabrielle developed as a subtropical cyclone on September 8 about 385 miles ( 625 km ) southeast of Cape Lookout , North Carolina . Unfavorable wind shear impacted the storm for much of its duration , although a temporary decrease in the shear allowed the cyclone to become a tropical storm . On September 9 , Gabrielle made landfall at Cape Lookout National Seashore in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with winds of 60 mph ( 90 km / h ) . Turning to the northeast , the storm quickly weakened and dissipated on September 11 . 
