25 September, 2017
On thisforecast track, Maria will move away from the Bahamas and offshore of the southeastern coast of the United States.
It's where and when that turn will happen that is problematic. Closer to where Maria is forecast to move over the Atlantic, individual waves could reach 80 feet.
For that reason, the hurricane center has issued tropical storm and storm surge watches for part of the North Carolina coast.
Tropical Storm Watches have been issued for north of Surf City northward to the North Carolina/Virginia border including Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds.
At the moment, the latest forecast guidance suggests the center of Maria will stay off the East Coast of the US, but it's too early to be 100 percent certain.
All of Hyde County is now under a tropical storm watch.
Tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch areas beginning Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. This year has seen 13 named storms so far (the designation tropical storms get when their winds exceed 39 mph), making it an "extremely active" year according to the National Hurricane Center.
The NHC said: "These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions".
Though the track may end up similar to Jose, the end game around our neighborhood will be much different.
"Wind shear also increases over the central and eastern Atlantic", Kottlowski said.
Now, for where Maria's headed. We need to monitor this storm closely as it may skirt the NC coast around midweek.
The five-day tracking model shows Maria maintaining hurricane strength through Friday as it makes it way north before turning northeast and heading further out into the Atlantic.
It will remain unseasonably warm and dry for Southwest Virginia over the next week. Maria also developed an incredibly large eye that was found by a Hurricane Hunter aircraft to be 40 miles wide early Thursday.
He said the "rapid intensification of Lee appears to have slowed for now".
The hurricane center said Lee could be near Category 3 intensity by Monday. It is the eighth hurricane of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.
Jose Sanchez Gonzalez, the mayor of the north coastal town of Manati, says he needs basic supplies such as water, ice and gas immediately.
Hurricane season does not officially end until November 30, and more tropical concerns are expected.
