Tropical Storm Zeta could barrel toward Charlotte area, NWS warns. Here’s the latest.
Tropical Storm Zeta could dump lots of rain on the Charlotte region mid-week, National Weather Service meteorologists warned Saturday night.
“The system will provide plenty of moisture to our area by Thursday,” forecasters in the NWS office in Greer, South Carolina, tweeted. Exact amounts were not immediately known.
The National Hurricane Center in Miami issued its first advisory for what was then-Tropical Depression 28 at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The depression strengthened into named tropical storm status with 40 mph winds overnight, NWS meteorologists said.
Zeta “could be at or just below hurricane strength when it approaches the northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday, and could bring storm surge, rainfall, and wind impacts to areas from Louisiana to the Florida Panhadle, the National Hurricane Center tweeted at 11 a.m. Sunday.
Zeta is the 27th named storm of 2020. That’s one shy of tying this year’s Atlantic hurricane season for “the most active season on record” with 2005, according to the NWS Greer office.
“When there’s so many ... it’s easy to lose count!” NWS meteorologists tweeted Sunday after saying earlier that Zeta had tied the record. “Still a month to go in the season.”
The depression formed southeast of Cuba on Saturday, where the National Hurricane Center issued a tropical storm watch at 5 p.m.
Tropical storm-force winds — 39 mph or more — could reach the western Carolinas by Wednesday night, according to Hurricane Center maps.
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 7:42 PM.