Tropical Storm Ophelia threatens wind, rain and storm surge for US mid-Atlantic
Tropical Storm Ophelia formed off the mid-Atlantic coast and was expected to bring heavy rain, storm surge and windy conditions over the weekend, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Friday.
Ophelia had maximum sustained winds of 60mph (95km/h), according to a 2pm advisory from the Miamibased center. The storm was centered 150 miles (240km) south-east of Cape Fear, North Carolina, and was forecast to make landfall on Saturday morning.
The governors of North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency on Friday, and the intensifying weather system forced schools to close early and prompted organizers of weekend events to cancel.
Rain was already moving inland across North Carolina by midday Friday with some areas expected to get up to seven inches (17.7cm) across eastern parts of the state and into south-east Virginia, forecasters said. Storm surge warning was in effect for some areas, with surges between three and five feet (0.9 to 1.5 meters) forecast for parts of North Carolina, the NHC reported.
The system’s center is expected to move inland over eastern North Carolina and south-eastern Virginia and near the Chesapeake Bay through Sunday, the hurricane center’s director, Mike Brennan, said in a livestreamed briefing on Friday.
A storm surge warning was in effect from Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, to Chincoteague, Virginia, and a tropical storm warning was issued from Cape Fear, North Carolina, to Fenwick Island, Delaware.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Nigel was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone centered about 640 miles north-west of the Azores with maximum sustained winds of 70mph. There were no associated coastal watches or warnings as the storm moved north-east at 37mph, the NHC said in its final update on the system on Friday morning.