Hurricane Danielle becomes first of the season; tropics active with other systems
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A weather system tracking toward the North Carolina coast has a 70 percent chance of becoming a tropical depression in the next five days.
It is one of three areas the National Hurricane Center is monitoring as we enter the Labor Day weekend.
According to ABC11 Meteorologist Kweilyn Murphy, long-range forecasts show this system turning away from the coast and staying out to sea. If that changes at all, the First Alert Weather Team will let you know.
Hurricane Danielle officially became the first hurricane of the season just before 11 a.m. Friday. The storm is expected to continue strengthening, possibly up to category 2 status.
The good news about Danielle is that it will remain out to sea and does not pose any real threat to major population centers. The storm is expected to meander in the Atlantic over the next few days.
As of Saturday morning, tropical storm Earl is east of Puerto Rico and will also likely curve out to sea and not a threat to land at this time.
All of this comes amid what had been a calm hurricane season. It is the first time since 1941 that the Atlantic has gone from July 3 to the end of August with no named storm, Colorado State University hurricane researcher Phil Klotzbach told The Associated Press.
WATCH | ABC11 Hurricane Season Special
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
