Tropical Storm Arthur headed toward NC, strong winds expected to hit coast

Tropical Storm Arthur is moving toward the North Carolina coast at 9 miles per hour on Sunday morning.

A tropical storm watch has been issued for the North Carolina coast from Surf City all the way to the Outer Banks, including Pamlico Sound.

Storm surge is possible in these areas — which is where water rises and rushes to the shore.

WRAL’s Peta Sheerwood said that the coast of North Carolina could see some high winds starting as early as this afternoon.

The storm is expected to mainly stay off our coast, though our beaches will likely feel the impact and the Outer Banks is expected to get the brunt of the storm.

“Regardless if we get a landfall out of this or not the impacts along the coast will be felt widespread,” Sheerwood said.

In the areas where a tropical storm warning is in place this afternoon, winds could be at about 30 to 40 miles per hour. As the storm gets closer to the coast, winds could get near 60 miles per hour. These winds can cause severe erosion on the Outer Banks, according to WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner.

Sunday morning, Arthur was 380 miles away from Cape Hatteras and is moving at 9 miles per hour. The storm is expected to gain momentum as the day goes on.

This is the sixth year in a row a system formed earlier than hurricane season, which officially begins June 1.

The system will develop the most over the weekend and Monday and should be gone by Tuesday.

Along with high winds and rain, the storm could create a high rip current danger at North Carolina beaches this weekend as it moves northeast.

All the beaches along the coast are under a “high” rip current risk on Sunday morning as the storm moves in.

“If you go to the beach, you need to be careful,” Gardner said.

A cold front that will come in and push the high-pressure tropical storm to the east could also bring some rain to North Carolina on Monday and Tuesday, Gardner said.

Because of that front, plan to see some cooler temperatures when the cold front does come in.

Even though the tropical storm is moving north, we are still going to see a trend of warmer weather this weekend and moving into next week.