‘Rather unexpected’ Tropical Storm Colin forms off South Carolina

Roger Simmons, Orlando Sentinel
·2 min read

ORLANDO, Fla. — Residents of the Carolinas work up to a surprise Saturday morning: Tropical Storm Colin had formed overnight.

According the National Hurricane Center, an area of low pressure formed just offshore from Savannah, Georgia, on Friday but became better organized overnight. “As a result, and rather unexpectedly, Tropical Storm Colin has formed near the South Carolina coast, centered just inland a bit to the northeast of Charleston,” the hurricane center said Saturday morning.

At 8 p.m., Tropical Storm Colin was located about 35 miles west-southwest of Wilmington, North Carolina, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extended out 80 miles southeast from Colin’s center.

Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Cape Fear to Duck, North Carolina, and Pamlico Sound.

“A slightly faster northeast to east-northeast motion is expected during the next day or so. On the forecast track, the center of Colin is expected to move northeastward along or just inland of the North Carolina coast through Sunday” the NHC said.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Bonnie continues moving across Central America as it heads from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

At 5 p.m. Saturday, Bonnie was located about 130 miles west-southwest of Managua, Nicaragua, moving west at 16 mph. Its maximum sustained winds increased to 50 mph.

Tropical storm warnings for areas in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras were discontinued. “Interests along the Pacific coasts of El Salvador, Guatemala, and southern Mexico should monitor the progress of Bonnie,” the NHC said.

And forecasters are still monitoring an area of disturbed weather in the eastern Caribbean that has a 10% chance of developing into a tropical depression over the next several days.

“A tropical wave continues to produce a broad area of disorganized showers and thunderstorms over the Windward Islands and eastern Caribbean Sea,” forecasters said. “Upper-level winds are not conducive for significant development as the system moves west-northwestward during the next few days across the Caribbean Sea.”

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