Historic Hurricane Matthew has exited the Eastern Seaboard, but Tropical Storm Nicole continues to spin quietly over the open Atlantic. Nicole has been meandering for several days but is starting to move slowly north. Intensification is expected with Nicole likely to be a hurricane as it approaches Bermuda on Thursday.
As of Saturday afternoon, Hurricane Matthew was barely maintaining hurricane strength, with peak sustained winds around 75 mph, just one mile per hour above the threshold needed for a storm to be considered a hurricane. But even if Matthew’s strongest winds are in the past, that doesn’t mean the threat for North and South Carolina is over, as heavy rain, gusty winds, high surf and isolated tornadoes are still all possible for the remainder of Saturday night. Virginia and southeast Maryland are also facing the threat for flash flooding.
A storm system will provide an elevated severe weather risk today across the Plains.
Data from an Air Force Hurricane Hunter flight Saturday morning showed that Matthew was barely holding on to hurricane status, with peak sustained winds weakening to 75 mph. The storm also made its first official landfall in the U.S. Saturday morning, as the eye of the storm moved over McClellanville, South Carolina (located between Charleston and Myrtle Beach). It now looks probable that Matthew could weaken down to a tropical storm at some point Saturday. But even as the winds decrease, the heavy rains continue, and the flood threat remains very high across both North and South Carolina.
