Tropical Storm Arthur, the First Named Storm of the Season, Gathers Speed as It Approaches North Carolina

The first named storm of hurricane season—Tropical Storm Arthur—formed off of Florida’s east coast Saturday and is strengthening as it approaches North Carolina’s Outer Banks as of Sunday morning.

The storm is moving at 9 mph in a north-northeast direction with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and is about 335 miles south-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina as of 8 a.m. E.T., according to the National Hurricane Center.

Arthur is expected to “remain well offshore the east coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina today, and then move near or just east of the coast of North Carolina on Monday,” the NHC says. The wind speeds are forecasted to get stronger in the next 48 hours and Arthur will likely slow down and lose its tropical characteristics on Tuesday.

The official start of hurricane season may be June 1 but it is not uncommon to have tropical activity this early, according to AccuWeather meteorologist Courtney Travis.

National Hurricane Center Wind speed probabilities for Tropical Storm Arthur from Sunday until Friday.

A tropical storm warning, indicating that such conditions are expected within the next 24 to 36 hours, is in effect for Surf City to Duck, N.C., as well as Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds.

Arthur is expected to drop anywhere from one to three inches of rain over coastal North Carolina tonight and Monday with higher amounts in some areas.

Swells created by Arthur are already affecting parts of the “southeast U.S. coast and are expected to spread northward from Florida to the mid-Atlantic states over the next few days,” according to the National Hurricane Center. They could cause “life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”