Tropical storm Claudette continues moving away from North Carolina coast Monday
A tropical storm warning for Eastern North Carolina has been canceled as tropical storm Claudette is moving away from the area Monday morning, forecasters say.
Claudette restrengthened to a tropical storm after weakening to a tropical depression Saturday as it moved inland after making landfall in Louisiana. It brought heavy rains and strong winds to some areas as it moved over Eastern North Carolina.
The National Weather Service had issued a tropical storm warning from Little River Inlet near the North and South Carolina border to Duck, North Carolina, which is near the Virginia border, and for the Pamlico and Albemarle sounds. But all warnings were discontinued in the weather service’s 8 a.m. update.
Claudette was located over the western Atlantic Ocean and was moving away from the coast as of the National Hurricane Center’s 11 a.m. forecast update.
“Some additional slight strengthening is possible over the western Atlantic Ocean today. Claudette is forecast to become a post-tropical cyclone Tuesday afternoon and dissipate late Tuesday night,” the NHC says.
The northern part of North Carolina’s Outer Banks could still get up to an inch of rain over the next few hours, and isolated flooding is possible, the NHC says. But heavy rain is expected to continue diminishing.
Parts of the North Carolina coast remain under a high risk for rip currents, which is expected to continue through the middle of the week, according to the National Weather Service.
In areas where there is a high risk of rip currents, the NWS says the surf zone is dangerous for all swimmers and that beachgoers should stay out of the water.
If caught in a rip current, the NWS says to stay calm and call and wave for help or to swim parallel to the shore until you are out of the current. Swimming against the current will “just tire you out.”
In parts of central North Carolina, remnants of Claudette brought showers and thunderstorms late Sunday, with areas under severe thunderstorm warnings. But skies are expected to be “mostly sunny” by Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service says.
As of 11 a.m. Monday, Claudette was located 90 miles south of Ocean City, Maryland, and 330 miles south/southwest of Montauk Point, New York, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph.
Tropical storm-force winds — which range from 39 mph to 73 mph — extend up to 140 miles from the storm’s center.
Claudette was moving east, northeast at 28 mph, the NHC says.
This story was originally published June 20, 2021 at 11:20 AM.
