Things have escalated quickly in the Atlantic with a new tropical depression that has formed off the North Carolina coast. Tropical Depression #3 formed Friday afternoon well southeast of Wilmington NC with max winds around 30 mph. The depression will meander around the area through the weekend before strengthening and accelerating northeast into the open Atlantic by Wednesday. The steering currents are quite weak, hence the reason for the erratic movement through the weekend.
Impacts to the US East Coast will be small, mainly from increasing surf on the North Carolina coast. There will likely be an increase in winds across the North Carolina Outer Banks this weekend as the storm approaches. The storm is forecast to become a hurricane as it accelerates away from the coast. The next named storm on the list is "Chris".
FOX 4 Chief Meteorologist Derek Beasley
