Overview

• Tropical Storm Chantal formed Saturday morning about 150 miles south-southeast of Charleston with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and a slow northward drift of 2 mph.
• Tropical storm warnings and watches cover the Carolina coast from Edisto Beach in South Carolina up to Cape Fear in North Carolina.
• The National Hurricane Center projects Chantal will make landfall in South Carolina early Sunday before turning northeast along the Carolina and Virginia coasts.
• The storm is forecast to deliver 2 to 6 inches of rain across the coastal Carolinas, triggering flash flooding, along with a 1–3 foot storm surge and hazardous rip currents.
• Chantal is the first storm to threaten the United States this Atlantic hurricane season, which NOAA expects to feature above-normal activity with 13 to 19 named storms.