COLUMBIA, S.C. - A tropical storm warning was issued Sunday for the coastal Carolinas as the first tropical depression of the Atlantic hurricane season moved toward the coast with steady winds near 35 mph.

The rainy cloud system's poorly defined center was about 80 miles southeast of Charleston, S.C., according to the National Hurricane Center (news - web sites).

Hurricane center forecasters predicted a turn to the north, which would position the center of the depression near the South Carolina coastline later Sunday.

A tropical storm warning was in effect from Hatteras, N.C. to Cape Fear, N.C. A watch was issued south to Edisto Beach, S.C., south of Charleston.

Although the storm was close to shore, it had little impact Sunday morning: Winds in Charleston and Myrtle Beach rarely gusted above 15 mph and Myrtle Beach had only .08 inches of rain.

Officials planned to dispatch a reconnaissance plane to the system to gather more information.

The 2004 hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30, has started slowly. Only two seasons on record have a first depression forming later than July 31, but forecasters caution that has no bearing overall hurricane activity.

OH MY GOD!!!

YOU LIKE TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES???


<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>I KNEW I WASN'T ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!!</span>

I live in Panama City, FL and I LOVE storms!!!!

I hope like heck we dont get major winds up here in Richmond. The ground is soaking wet and we would lose tons of trees. I have a tree guy coming in next week to take out 7 pines and one huge oak. I am going to try and get him here asap. I also have a buddy who is taking a week in Corolla............three kids in the cottage for a week...........and tons of rain..........sucks to be him.

SCConway Wrote:OH MY GOD!!!

YOU LIKE TROPICAL STORMS AND HURRICANES???


<span style='font-size:21pt;line-height:100%'>I KNEW I WASN'T ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE!!!!!</span>

I live in Panama City, FL and I LOVE storms!!!!

and we get the first one!! and not you!

My kids are on their way to Charleston for a week with Dad, step momster and step brother. Hope it clears up so they don't take to fighting. Rednecks at the beach-gotta love it. (Not including my kids in that group mind you.)

TDMs Alias Name Wrote:Rednecks at the beach-gotta love it.

we did that two weeks ago!

I was drinkin my Brass Monkey on the beach

it was great

the 5:00 news said that it will now stay out in the ocean but cause rain at the Beach

its been stalled SW of SC coast since 2 PM

once it cleared land it has sped up to a Cat 3 storm-120 mph winds!


WTNT31 KNHC 050831
TCPAT1
BULLETIN
HURRICANE ALEX ADVISORY NUMBER20
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 AM EDT THU AUG 05 2004
...ALEX ACCELERATING EAST-NORTHEASTWARD INTO THE NORTH ATLANTIC...

AT 5 AM EDT...0900Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE ALEX WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 40.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 61.5 WEST OR ABOUT 625 MILES...
1005 KM...SOUTHWEST OF CAPE RACE NEWFOUNDLAND.

ALEX IS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST NEAR 29 MPH...46 KM/HR.
THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH AN INCREASE IN FORWARD
SPEED DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 120 MPH...195 KM/HR...WITH
HIGHER GUSTS. THIS MAKES ALEX A CATEGORY THREE OR MAJOR HURRICANE
ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE SCALE.WEAKENING IS FORECAST
DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS AS ALEX MOVES OVER COLDER WATERS NORTH OF
THE GULF STREAM.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 60 MILES... 95 KM...
FROM THE CENTER...AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP
TO 175 MILES...280 KM.

ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 957 MB...28.26 INCHES.

REPEATING THE 5 AM EDT POSITION...40.0 N... 61.5 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...EAST-NORTHEAST NEAR 29 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED
WINDS...120 MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE... 957 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL
HURRICANE CENTER AT 11 AM EDT.

FORECASTER BEVEN

any idea if it did any damage to the outer banks? My family and I are going on a vacation there in two weeks. It would be nice if nothing blew over.

They evacuated Ocracoke Island. Not sure how much damage was done north of there.

<a href='http://www.wral.com/news/3609276/detail.html' target='_blank'>http://www.wral.com/news/3609276/detail.html</a>

Just returned from Southport. Wasn't too bad. Large surf. No beach erosion. Calm front Wed. Shell searching went well after the storm passed.