Friday morning...

Tropical Storm Hanna is located a bit over 400 miles south of Wilmington this morning and lifting northwest at around 20mph. Landfall will likely occur during the early morning hours of Saturday on the upper South Carolina coast or southern North Carolina coast.

In terms of intensity, Hanna will likely be a strong tropical storm at landfall. It is possible Hanna could be a weak Category 1 hurricane, but in all honesty, there is not a whole lot of difference between a strong tropical storm and a weak hurricane.

Along the coast, conditions will begin deteriorating this afternoon and evening with the worst weather occurring overnight. Heavy rain, very windy conditions, and the threat of tornadoes will be likely in eastern North Carolina and the South Carolina coast through the night into early Saturday.

For interior portions of the Carolinas, including the Traid and Charlotte viewing areas, clouds will roll in today, and some afternoon showers are possible. The best rain chances will be tonight into Saturday morning. There will likely be a strip of real estate between the Triad and the Triangle that sees over two inches of rain, but where that band will set up is impossible to determine at this point. It is conveivable that some spots could miss out on the rain altogether.

It will be rather breezy at times tonight into Saturday morning, but the heaviest winds will likely be confined to the eastern part of the state.

Hanna will quickly pull away tomorrow afternoon, and we could see some sunshine try to work in tomorrow afternoon.