GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – As of the 11 AM Friday update from the National Hurricane Center, Franklin continues to remain a tropical storm and is expected to strengthen late Saturday and into Sunday into a category 1 hurricane as winds will be at 75 MPH. Winds are then forecasted to approach 110 MPH, which is category 2 strength by Monday morning. The path continues to move northeast in the Atlantic and will pass to the west of Bermuda Tuesday.
As Franklin’s path moves to the north in the Atlantic, it is expected to weaken back to a category 1 storm by the time we get to midweek next week.
While this track keeps the wind and rain well away from Eastern NC, the waves generated by Franklin are another story. The storm tracks is about 400 miles of the coast of eastern North Carolina.
Wave heights along our coastline will range between 6 to 10 feet, pushing rip current threats up to ‘high’ for all area beaches. The waves will come with a King Tide that will run from Sunday to Thursday. This combination of higher waves and sea levels will increase the likelihood of beach erosion and coastal flooding. A change in wind direction will switch into a west-northwesterly flow Wednesday and that will calm winds on the beaches for the Labor Day weekend.
