Hurricane Chris: See How It Will Affect CT

Tropical Storm Chris was churning 200 miles off the North Carolina coast Monday as its power increased, with experts expecting it to become a hurricane later in the day and into Tuesday.

The storm will be making its way north, but forecasters at the National Hurricane Center believe it will be too far off-shore to heavily impact Connecticut when it passes us midweek.

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The service said Chris is likely to pass "well southeast of [Southern New England]" Wednesday into Thursday. The only impact Chris is expected to have on Connecticut's coastline is a high surf and dangerously powerful rip currents midweek.

"There will be a moderate risk of rip currents for Atlantic facing beaches today. The risk of rip currents may increase into mid week as a tropical system passes well east of the area," the National Weather Service says. There remains a chance for thunderstorms Tuesday night and on Wednesday.

"An outlying scenario is that the push of cooler air is not as strong and the storm fails to get steered off to the northeast," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said. "Chris may then just continue to meander off the coast and keep seas rough later this week."

Originally reported by Mike Carraggi/Patch