This year's Fourth of July weekend could possibly turn into a wet Independence Day celebration for holiday-makers in the East Coast as weather authorities report that the first tropical storm could fast turn into a hurricane.
Tropical storm Arthur is the first to arrive in this year's Atlantic Hurricane Season, which spans from July 1 through November 30. Arthur was first spotted crawling 2 miles per hour off Florida's east coast Monday night but is now gathering momentum with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour. The National Hurricane Center of the National Weather Service says Arthur is located 95 miles east-southeast of Cape Canaveral as of early Wednesday morning in Florida and is expected to peak at a speed of 90 miles per hour, making it a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
"Satellite data indicate that maximum sustained winds are near 60 mph (95 kmh) with higher gusts," says the NHC in its advisory. "Strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours... and Arthur is expected to become a hurricane by Thursday. Air Force Reserve and NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft will be investigating Arthur in the next few hours."
The NHC has also issued a tropical storm watch for Florida's east coast from Fort Pierce to Flagler Beach but is also consider issuing warnings to as far north as Virginia, and says it will likely issue a hurricane watch Wednesday. A tropical storm watch means a storm could possibly land in the area in the next 24 hours. A hurricane watch, on the other hand, is a warning that conditions in the area are favorable for a hurricane to occur.
But despite the warnings issued by the NHC, it's business as usual for the resorts and beaches on Florida's Space Coast, where red flags have been put up to warn beach goers against going into the water. The skies have turned cloudy and the winds have picked off, enticing surfers to dive into the churning waters off Florida's central Atlantic coast. Surf forecaster Bob Freeman, however, warns against rip currents and advises surfers to postpone their plans until Thursday when Arthur will have moved a little further north. Freeman says waist-high waves will still be expected until Friday, July 4.
In North Carolina's Outer Banks, where no storm watch has yet been issued, officials say they will close the beach on Cape Lookout National Seashore at 5 p.m. on Wednesday. However, John Zeller, a motel manager in Kill Devil Hills on the Banks says the motel was fully booked for Independence Day weekend, although the motel has received "some cancellations, but not too many."
Joe Pollina, a New York-based meteorologist, says New Yorkers can expect thunderstorms and rain showers to fall by late Wednesday and Thursday. Pollina says this will be mainly due to the cold front interacting with the tropical moisture coming off Arthur. He also says there is a 50% chance of rain on Friday.
The NHC reports the storm will be near North Carolina by early morning Friday.