Tropical storm brushes coastal North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tropical Storm Cristobal dumped rain and brought rough seas to the North Carolina coast Sunday, and forecasters predicted the system was headed for the open Atlantic.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dolly drenched Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and was expected to reach the Gulf of Mexico today.

At 8 p.m. Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Cristobal’s center had moved to 25 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras with maximum sustained winds increasing to near 50 mph. The storm was moving to the northeast at 9 mph.

The advisory said the storm’s center would head away from the coast early Monday, and predicted little change in strength over the next day or two.

The National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm warning from Cape Lookout to the Virginia-North Carolina border, including Pamlico Sound.

Cristobal’s strongest winds were east of the center, out at sea, National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Bandy said. Winds on the coastal side of the storm were about 25 mph and will have little impact on coastal cities unless the storm strengthens.

Bandy said some rain was falling over the smoldering wildfire that has burned 64 square miles in Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge since it was started by lightning June 1.

“We’re still seeing fairly continuous bands of showers and isolated thunderstorms moving through eastern North Carolina,” said Mark Willis, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service bureau in Newport. “There are going to be some areas that don’t receive anything and other areas will get several inches.”

The prospect of seeing Cristobal head out to sea pleased a fishing captain at Ocracoke, an island south of Cape Hatteras.

“Let’s get it over with so we can go fishing,” said Capt. David Nagel, who has operated the “Drum Stick” charter boat for 31 years. “Nobody’s out. Everybody’s tied up.”

Nagel said he saw ominous clouds looming to the south and the seas outside his harbor were 6 to 8 feet with winds blowing about 25 mph.Rainfall was expected to be 1 to 2 inches with isolated amounts of 4 to 5 inches in areas where heavy rain bands passed. overhead, Bandy said.