Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed Wednesday morning over the open Atlantic Ocean and is forecast to strengthen to hurricane force over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of Tropical Storm Gabrielle is 990 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands. Photo courtesy of the NOAA UPI

Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Tropical Storm Gabrielle formed Wednesday morning over the open Atlantic Ocean and is forecast to strengthen to hurricane force over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.

The eye of the storm was about 990 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands, the NHC said in its 5 p.m. EST update. Gabrielle had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving northwest at 14 mph.

"A northwest or west-northwest motion is expected to continue over the next few days," the update said.

The NHC said there will be little strengthening of Gabrielle over the next 48 hours, but it may gradually intensify into a hurricane by Sunday afternoon.

Tropical Storm Gabrielle is the Atlantic hurricane season's seventh named storm after Tropical Storms Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter and Ferdinand, and Hurricane Erin.