Coastal storm moves in: Mountain flood risk, coastal dangers

The non-tropical coastal storm is making its way inland on Sunday morning, pushing in all the showers over North Carolina and Virginia. Strong winds will persist on Sunday, and we forecast the system to dissipate by the beginning of next week over the same general area.

The rain has been constant since late Friday for coastal North Carolina and the southeastern portion of Virginia, where they have also experienced a few thunderstorms. Rains expanded closer to the Blue Ridge Mountains late Saturday morning, with the storm’s center still over the Atlantic.

Sunday morning’s satellite imagery shows the storm’s center inching closer to land. Winds are still strong over the coast of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. During the last 24 hours, strong winds have been recorded offshore of the North Carolina coast, with a buoy located 6 miles southeast of Wrightsville Beach registering 56 mph winds. But near the coast, the winds were not too far behind. In Federal Point, N.C., a 55 mph wind was registered on Saturday afternoon and the highest wind in South Carolina was recorded at Georgetown Fishing Pier.

Gale warnings expired on Sunday, but there are still small craft advisories in place along the South Carolina coast northward through the Chesapeake Bay. These advisories will start to expire from south to north throughout the rest of the Memorial Day Weekend.

Swimmers should still consider staying off the waters as there will still be a high risk of rip currents through the mid-Atlantic coast southward and covering the entire east coast of Florida. See below how to spot a rip current and the best way to be released from one.

Rain will continue to affect the mountains over North Carolina, and western Virginia with another 3 inches possible. This is where the highest risk for flash flooding may happen. Coastal areas of North and South Carolina will slowly start to see less shower activity late afternoon into the evening and Memorial Day Monday should stay much better, with some periods of sunshine, but still a few thunderstorms in the forecast for coastal Virginia. Coastal areas could receive between half to one inch of additional rain through Monday evening.