Tropical Storm Bill moving away from NC coast, second system could bring storms

By WRAL Severe Weather Center

Tropical Depression Bill formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday night, and is moving away from the coast of North Carolina. Winds from the storm are as high as 60 mph. The storm is expected to run into cooler sea surface temperatures and weaken as it moves north and east.

“It is racing toward the northeast at almost 40 miles per hour,” said WRAL meteorologist Aimee Wilmoth.

Because the system is moving away so quickly, the rip current risk should be pretty limited. The National Weather Service forecast only has a small sliver of our southern coast under a moderate risk.

WRAL’s weather team is monitoring two other tropical systems in the Atlantic. Another tropical depression could develop in the Gulf of Mexico later this week as a weak wave of low pressure slowly drifts north. This has a 70% chance of developing.

If the system develops into a tropical depression, it would be named Claudette.

Both the American and European model showed the system heading into Texas and Louisiana. In North Carolina, we could see an increase in rainfall Sunday or Monday. As the week goes on, models will become more precise in predicting the local impacts of this system.

A wave moving off the coast of Africa has a small chance of developing within the next 5 days. The European model is completely unimpressed with this system, but a few hurricane models show further development so we will keep an eye on it.