Hurricane Jose: Swells, Rip Currents Expected Along N.C. Coast

CHARLOTTE, NC -- While much of the southern U.S. continues to pick up the pieces from Hurricane Irma’s landfall last week, a new batch of powerful storms is brewing in the Atlantic, promising an impact along the North Carolina coastline as soon as Monday.

By 11a.m. Monday morning, Hurricane Jose lingered more than 250 miles off the North Carolina coast with hurricane force winds of about 75 mph, moving north at about 9 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The

“Swells generated by Jose are affecting Bermuda, the Bahamas, and much of the U.S. east coast,” the National Weather Service said Monday. “These swells are likely to cause dangerous surf and rip current conditions for the next several days.”

The coast of North Carolina will begin to feel tropical-storm force winds from Jose by Monday afternoon, NWS said. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news in Charlotte — or other neighborhoods. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Further south and in another reminder that this is peak hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center upgraded Maria to a Category 2 storm by Monday morning. Maria was located about 85 miles east of Martinique and was packing maximum sustained winds of 110 mph while heading west-northwest at 12 mph.

Maria is expected to bring up to 20 inches of rain across the Leeward Islands and U.S. and British Virgin Islands by Wednesday night, and up to 25 inches across Puerto Rico, NWS said.

You can read more about Hurricane Maria’s path and the aftermath of Irma in Florida here.

Patch Editor Deb Belt contributed to this report.

Images courtesy of the National Weather Service

Keep up with more local news by liking Charlotte Patch on Facebook: