Tropical Storm Cristobal hugged the North Carolina coast Sunday, but it offered little inland relief from the heat and humidity expected to blanket the Triangle through Tuesday.

As the storm leaves North Carolina waters, forecasters predict a high pressure system will camp out over central North Carolina, bringing a combination of moist air and sunny skies that will push temperatures close to 100 degrees today.

It will feel even hotter, with a heat index a few degrees above the century mark.

As a result, air quality officials have issued a Code Orange alert today for air pollution in the Triangle, Charlotte and high-elevation areas near Asheville.

The heat wave is expected to last through Tuesday. A cold front will arrive Wednesday and lower daytime highs into the upper 80s for the Triangle.

As a rain producer, Cristobal was a bust. It whipped up surf along the coast but failed to help firefighters in the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Moving northeast, Cristobal followed the coast within about 20 miles of shore, dumping much of its rain into the Atlantic, according to the National Weather Service office in Morehead City.

Forecasters expect some light rain over the Pocosin Lakes before the storm leaves the area and sunny, calm weather returns today. The projected rainfall was far from the downpour that officials have said is needed to douse the wildfire that has been burning in the refuge for seven weeks.

The storm also contributed to scattered showers in the central part of the state.

Some of the rainfall was heavy, but it didn't last long enough to make a dent in the lingering drought in the Triangle and the Piedmont.

The National Weather Service in Raleigh estimated up to 1 1/2 inches fell in central North Carolina Saturday and early Sunday.

Cristobal was the first storm to approach the U.S. this hurricane season. Forecasters called it a weak system.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dolly is threatening the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, but forecasters don't expect the storm to threaten the U.S.

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