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Tropical Storm Cristobal Churns Off Coast Of Carolinas

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The Associated Press

Published: July 20, 2008

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tropical Storm Cristobal, the first tropical storm to menace the Southeastern seaboard this hurricane season, sent outer bands of intermittent rain lashing the eastern Carolinas late Saturday as forecasters predicted it could dump several inches in some areas of drought-stricken North Carolina.

"Basically the track is running parallel to the coast," said lead National Hurricane Center forecaster Martin Nelson, speaking with The Associated Press by telephone from Miami. "Slow strengthening is forecast for the next day or two."

At the By The Sea Motel in North Myrtle Beach, out-of-state visitors photographed outer storm bands as Cristobal churned off the coast, said hotel manager Charlie Peterson. Intermittent light rain fell in the afternoon, but that wasn't enough to chase them away.

"They've got their cameras set and they think there is going to be lightning over the water," he said.

Bradley Rose, a surf instructor at SandBarz in Carolina Beach, N.C., said surfers took the plunge.

"It looks pretty fun out there," Rose said.

Although the center of the storm was forecast to remain off the coast through the weekend, tropical storm warnings were in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to the North Carolina-Virginia state line, including Pamlico Sound.

Flood advisories were posted for coastal counties and Wilmington, N.C., received 21/2 inches of rain Saturday, said Stephen Keebler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service there.

Cristobal's winds were not expected to be a problem, Keebler said.

Forecasters predicted up to 5 inches of rain along the North Carolina coast, with heavier amounts in some areas.

Eastern North Carolina is under a moderate drought while areas along South Carolina's northern coast are considered abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Officials have blamed the drought for a huge wildfire that has charred more than 40,000 acres in eastern North Carolina since it began June 1 with a lightning strike.

Elsewhere Saturday, Hurricane Fausto strengthened far off Mexico's Pacific coast, while Bertha was downgraded to a tropical storm in the North Atlantic, hundreds of miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. It was expected to be absorbed by a larger weather systen within the next few days.

Neither of those storms currently threatens land.

Bertha had blustered across Bermuda last week, knocking out electricity to thousands there.

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