GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) – As of 11:00 p.m, the National Hurricane Center was tracking an update on Hilary which has weakened to a tropical storm. Winds were near 45 mph, with gusts approaching 65 mph. Hilary was moving towards the north at 23 mph.
As Hilary made landfall across Baja California Sur earlier this afternoon, the storm’s interior structure continued to rapidly deteriorate despite producing torrential downpours from Los Angeles to Death Valley. An additional 1 to 3″ of rain may fall as Hilary progresses across the Santa Ana and San Gabriel Mountains.
Flash flooding, high surf and gusty winds are the main threats through Monday morning. Hilary poses no threat to Eastern NC.
Over the past 6-12 hours, the NHC have recently issued advisories on newly formed Tropical Storm Emily and Tropical Storm Franklin. Franklin currently has maximum sustained winds of 50 mph with gusts up to 70 mph. Franklin is currently battling westerly wind shear and the system is expected to gradually organize over the coming days. Franklin may affect Hispanola by Wednesday / Early Thursday.
Emily currently has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph with higher gusts. Emily is expected to remain well away for Eastern NC over the next several days. The National Hurricane Center’s forecast track has Emily completely dissipating towards the end of next week, but that’s not all..
Behind Emily and Franklin, the NHC is monitoring one area of low pressure is going to be located halfway between the west coast of Africa and the Lesser Antilles. Environmental conditions continue to be favorable for additional development over the next seven days. There is high chance, around 70% of this system becoming a tropical cyclone during the next 48-hours and 7-days
The second area of low pressure is located in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. Additional development of this system is expected through the next few days as it progresses westward. The formation chance over the next 48-hours and the next 7-days is 70%.