NAGS HEAD, N.C. – A potent coastal storm is lashing the mid-Atlantic, bringing heavy rain, high winds, and significant flooding to parts of North Carolina and Virginia. The slow-moving system is also churning up dangerous waves and life-threatening rip currents as it lingers offshore.
According to forecasters, the coastal low will drift slowly northward over the next few days, ensuring unsettled, stormy weather for the region through at least Tuesday. While the storm’s exact track remains uncertain, its effects are already being felt. Some forecast models suggest the system could push farther north, impacting Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey.
Widespread, heavy rainfall is expected, with most areas likely to receive 2 to 3 inches and localized totals reaching up to 5 inches. This downpour creates a significant risk of flash flooding. NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has issued a Level 2 out of 4 flood threat for parts of North Carolina and Virginia for Monday.
In addition to inland flooding from rain, strong onshore winds are driving water ashore, prompting Coastal Flood Watches and Advisories. Wind gusts of up to 60 mph have already been recorded in North Carolina, causing power outages and whipping up waves of 6 to 10 feet. In Nags Head, residents were staying off the roads as conditions worsened.
The storm’s influence extends far beyond the immediate area, generating dangerous rip currents along the East Coast from Florida to the Northeast. Officials are urging the public to stay out of the water.
While the impacts feel tropical, the system is not expected to become a tropical storm. Forecasters explain that it is a nor’easter-type system, formed by a clash between warm offshore air and cooler air from the mainland over ocean waters too cool to support tropical development.
