By Will Collette
UPDATE: the storm system moving up the Atlantic coast is now being shown by NWS forecasts to be moving up the Hudson Valley instead of hugging the coast all the way to Cape Cod. As expected the storm reached tropical strength and is now named Fay.
Charlestown is now outside the forecast cone. Still, we are expected to get lots of rain Friday through Saturday, enough to warrant a flash flood watch, effective noon Friday to noon Saturday.
A tropical system with an 80% chance of becoming a major storm, if not a tropical storm, is hugging the Atlantic Coast and is expected to hit us by Friday afternoon and continue through Saturday.
The current forecast for Friday and Saturday calls for heavy rain and thunderstorms and potential gusty winds starting around 3 PM Friday and tapering off Saturday night .
All of those factors create the possibilities for flooding, downed trees and power outages. Click HERE to monitor National Grid outages.
The storm is currently off the North Carolina coast.
Here is NOAA's advisory for the storm as it heads this way and hits us:
Regardless of development, the system is expected to produce locally heavy rainfall that could cause some flash flooding across portions of eastern North Carolina, the coastal mid-Atlantic, and southern New England during the next few days.
Gusty winds are also possible along the North Carolina Outer Banks today, and along the mid-Atlantic and southern New England coasts Friday and Saturday. Interests in these areas should monitor the progress of this system and refer to products from your local National Weather Service office. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter aircraft is scheduled to investigate this system later today.
* Formation chance through 48 hours...high...80 percent. * Formation chance through 5 days...high...80 percent.