Tropical Storm Gabrielle could affect Newfoundland on Wednesday

<br>MIAMI (AP) _ The edge of Tropical Storm Gabrielle was expected to lash southeastern Newfoundland with 40 to 50 mph winds Wednesday and could drop up to five inches of rain on the area, according to

Wednesday, September 19th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ The edge of Tropical Storm Gabrielle was expected to lash southeastern Newfoundland with 40 to 50 mph winds Wednesday and could drop up to five inches of rain on the area, according to forecasters.

Eric Holweg, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the storm was not expected to strike land, but would be off Newfoundland's southeastern coast by Wednesday evening.

At 11 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Gabrielle was centered about 350 miles south-southwest of Cape Race, Newfoundland, and had top sustained winds of about 70 mph. It was moving northeast at about 21 mph.

Gabrielle became the third hurricane of the 2001 Atlantic season after soaking Florida with up to 11 inches of rain as the season's seventh tropical storm. It was born in the Gulf of Mexico last week and crossed the state into the ocean over the weekend.

Meanwhile, Felix lost tropical storm status and was reclassified as a tropical depression Tuesday when its winds fell to 35 mph, 4 mph below the cutoff. Holweg said Felix was expected to dissipate Wednesday.

At 11 p.m. EDT, Felix was centered about 380 miles southwest of the Azores archipelago and barely moving. It was no threat to land, officials said.