Julia maintains tropical storm strength off southeast coast

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Julia maintained tropical storm strength Thursday night after earlier weakening to a tropical depression, but forecasters said it would gradually lose steam again while meandering off the coast of the Carolinas.

The storm, which did not deliver the widespread flooding and torrential downpours that were feared earlier in the week, was expected to drift off the coast for the next couple of days, the National Hurricane Center said. No coastal watches or warnings were in effect.

Julia’s maximum sustained winds at 11 p.m. EDT Thursday were 40 mph (about 65 kph). The storm was centred about 190 miles (about 310 kilometres) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, and 270 miles (about 435 kilometres) southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was moving at a speed of 4 mph (7 kph), the centre said.

Flood watches were dropped for the South Carolina coast earlier Thursday, although forecasters issued a small-craft advisory for waters near the shore and said there was a danger of rip currents along the coast through Thursday evening.

Street flooding that occurred around high tide late Wednesday closed a handful of downtown Charleston streets, but all had reopened by rush hour Thursday morning, and the pavement on major arteries leading into town was dry.

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Many areas along the South Carolina coast saw more than 2 inches of rain during the storm on Wednesday, but nowhere near the 6 to 8 inches that had earlier been forecast.

Forecasters had issued flood watches, concerned about additional rains coming less than two weeks after Tropical Storm Hermine sloshed across the state. That storm brought from 3 to 6 inches of rain but mainly in areas of the Midlands farther inland.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Karl formed in the far eastern Atlantic, where it posed no immediate threat to land. Late Thursday night, Karl was located about 575 miles (930 km) west-northwest of the Cabo Verde Islands and about 1,930 miles (3,105 km) east of the Leeward Islands.

The Hurricane Center said Karl is moving west at 14 mph (kph) with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kph). It was expected to continue toward the west or west-southwest for the next couple of days.

Elsewhere, Tropical Storm Ian was moving northeast in the central Atlantic but posed no threat to land.

Bruce Smith, The Associated Press