The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season continues to be very interesting as we look toward what could become the sixth named storm of the season.
Over this past weekend, we watched an area of low pressure move out of the Gulf of Mexico and into the eastern Gulf coast states. That same low is now along the South Carolina coast and the National Hurricane Center is giving it a 60 percent of developing into a tropical system over the 48 hours.
Right now, the low is disorganized but it’s still expected to drop between 0.25” to 1.25” of rain along the Carolina coast. The National Weather Service radar is already showing numerous showers and thunderstorms impacting areas from Myrtle Beach to New Bern this afternoon.
The latest run of the GFS (Global Forecast System) model puts an elongated low off the northern North Carolina coast by Thursday morning. The upper-level winds are light and the surrounding environment is very warm and humid, so as the low drifts a little offshore over the next few days it could develop into our sixth named storm of the season: Tropical Storm Fay.
Here’s the day one outlook for rainfall over the next 24 hours from the Weather Prediction Center (WPC). If this forecast verifies areas from Emerald Isle, NC to Kill Devil Hills, NC could see as much as 4.00” of rain.
Regardless of development, soaking rains can be expected all up and down the east coast of the United States. You will definitely want to keep an eye on the conditions and the updates from the NHC if you have travel plans or summer vacation trips planned from Wisconsin to any of these areas in the coming days.