GREENSBORO, N.C. — We've had about every kind of weather possible in North Carolina over the last few weeks. Now we're keeping our eyes on the tropics. The good news this time is that it doesn't look to pose a major threat to land.
By the weekend an area of low pressure could develop into our first tropical system of the year in the Atlantic. Right now there's a 80% chance of development over the next 5 days and, it looks like the system would develop near the Bahamas, but pose no threat to land.
What would it mean for the Carolinas? The biggest impacts would likely be increased waves and surf along with more dangerous rip currents at the beaches.
We had a warm winter and the ocean water is already pretty warm, in the upper 70s in the area where the storm is expected to develop. Warm ocean water would favor some tropical systems forming. Warm waters already could help aid a more active hurricane season, though it's not guaranteed
It may seem a bit outlandish to be talking about activity in the tropics but it's actually not that uncommon.
Each of the last five years has featured at least one preseason storm. 2016 had two, and even one storm, Alex reached hurricane status in January!
This storm over the weekend isn't expected to impact land, but the News 2 Weather Team is always keeping an eye on these things as hurricane season is fast approaching. The Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1st and ends on November 30th.
