MIAMI – Rain bands rotating around the center of Tropical Storm Arthur are drenching eastern North Carolina this morning. The strongest winds with the circulation are staying offshore, however. The wind blowing in off the ocean will produce some tidal flooding in low-lying areas, but the hit to North Carolina should be minor.
Arthur was never able to intensify significantly over the slightly coolish May ocean water and with the just-less-than-perfect atmospheric conditions.
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By this afternoon, the center of the tropical storm will be past North Carolina and headed out to sea where it is expected to die off in a few days. It might intensify a little before it winds down, as it transitions from a tropical storm to more of a nor’easter-type storm over the open ocean. But the only threat will be to marine interests.
Nothing else is cooking in the tropics or in the computer forecast models.
The wintertime weather regime continues at fairly low latitudes, however, so we’ll continue to watch to see if a cold front or wintertime-type upper low-pressure system gets stranded over the warm waters long enough to develop. Recall that it was a combination of an old cold front and an upper-level disturbance – both wintertime systems – that spawned Arthur.