Tropical storm warning: Which parts of the east coast could be affected during the weekend?

A weather system churning off the coast of Florida is expected to gain strength, developing into the fifteenth named tropical storm. When the tempest’s winds reach sustained wind speeds of 39 mph, most likely sometime on Friday, it will be christened Ophelia.

It’s threatening to bring heavy rainfall through the weekend across the eastern mid-Atlantic states. Also there is a danger of life-threatening storm surge.

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Tropical storm warning: Which parts of the east coast could be affected during the weekend?

Tropical Storm warnings have been issued starting Friday morning through Saturday night from Bald Head Island, North Carolina up to the southern tip of Delaware. The center of the storm is expected to make landfall early Saturday somewhere in the vicinity of Morehead City, North Carolina then move northward before going back out to sea over Delaware and southern New Jersey by which time it is predicted to downgrade to a tropical depression.

There is the potential for tropical-storm-force winds along the coast from South Carolina starting Friday afternoon through to Rhode Island, arriving late Saturday or early Sunday. As well into the interior of parts of the South and mid-Atlantic.

Storm surge from the tropical system could be up to five feet in southern North Carolina and forecast to be between two and four feet further north and along the coast of Virginia. The interior portions of Chesapeake Bay could experience one to three feet, likewise on the Atlantic coast from Maryland up to Manasquan Inlet, New Jersey.

Also costal residents from Surf City, North Carolina down to South Santee River, South Carolina could see one to three feet of storm surge. The National Hurricane Center advises anyone in those areas to follow instructions given by local officials.