Tropical Storm Colin – the third named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season – drenched parts of South Carolina and is threatening North Carolina with heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding over Fourth of July weekend.
Tropical storm warnings were issued early Saturday for parts of the South and North Carolina coasts, but the storm was "losing organization," the National Hurricane Center later said.
Colin is expected to continue to produce heavy rainfall and maximum sustained winds of about 40 miles per hour in North Carolina for the next day or so. Warnings were discontinued south of Cape Fear, North Carolina, as the storm largely made its way through the South Carolina coast.
Strong winds, heavy rainfall of up to 4 inches and localized areas of flash flooding were expected in both coastal South and North Carolina over the weekend.
"There will be rough surf, dangerous rip currents and areas of coastal erosion in the vicinity of the storm this weekend," AccuWeather meteorologist Adam Douty forecast.
The storm is set to continue its trajectory to the northeast, and is expected to dissipate over the western Atlantic on Monday, the hurricane center said.
TROPICAL STORM BONNIE:Bonnie forms in Caribbean, expected to hit Central America later Friday
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Bonnie swept through parts of Nicaragua on Saturday, threatening flooding and heavy rain of up to 8 inches. Mudslides are also expected "to continue over portions of Nicaragua and Costa Rica" throughout Saturday, according to the hurricane center.
The storm made landfall Friday on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph before it began moving westward at 16 mph, headed toward Costa Rica. Bonnie is expected to move into the Pacific on Saturday before gaining power and likely reaching hurricane force by Monday.
Contributing: The Associated Press
Contact News Now Reporter Christine Fernando at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.
