MIAMI — Beachgoers were warned away and emergency officials kept a watchful eye as Tropical Storm Ana plodded toward the Carolinas on Saturday, weeks ahead of the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
The storm had top sustained winds of 60 mph as of 3 p.m. Saturday but had slowed from its earlier speed, moving northwest at 3 mph and was forecast to be “very near” the coasts of South and North Carolina sometime Sunday morning.
Universities along the Carolina coastline were monitoring the storm as a possible disruption to weekend commencements. Ceremonies scheduled Saturday for Brooks Stadium at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., were moved indoors out of caution.
In Wilmington, N.C., the University of North Carolina at Wilmington held graduation indoors, as planned, but urged students and family to watch weather conditions and make their own determination whether it was safe to travel.
The North Myrtle Beach Department of Public Safety announced Saturday that no swimming in the ocean was allowed because of the weather. In New Hanover County, N.C., officials cautioned people who were thinking about coming to the beach over the weekend.
“Beachgoers are encouraged to use extreme caution this weekend,” said Warren Lee, Director of New Hanover County Emergency Management. “With the elevated risk of rip currents, the best advice is to stay out of the water when the risk for rip currents is the highest and comply with any advisories given by lifeguards.”
Stacy Stewart, a hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center, said dangerous surf and rip tides appear to be the biggest threat posed by the Atlantic season’s first tropical storm, though isolated flooding in some coastal areas is also a concern.
Although the season doesn’t formally start until June 1, he said such surprise storms are not unusual every few years or so.
“We had a similar situation occur twice back in 2012 when we had two early season tropical storms, Alberto and Beryl,” Stewart noted of two storms that also emerged in the month of May. “That was very unusual to get two storms before the normal start of the hurricane season; one is not that unusual.”
Ana marked the earliest subtropical or tropical storm to form in the Atlantic since another storm named Ana emerged in 2003, the hurricane center said in an earlier tweet.
The Atlantic season officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Stewart said Ana emerged from a subtropical system, meaning it initially had characteristics of both a tropical storm — which draws energy from warm ocean waters — and a traditional storm system driven by temperature changes typical of cooler weather before the season start.
Stewart cautioned that swimmers and surfers should stay out of the water because of rough surf and dangerous rip tides. He added that people watching the surf from jetties and piers should be cautious due to waves the storm can kick up.
“The biggest danger is rough surf and rip currents. We just don’t want people out there swimming in the waters. We especially don’t want surfers in the rough surf. If they go under, they could get dragged out to sea,” Stewart added.
