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HOUSTON, May 28 2016 – A tropical depression strengthened into a tropical storm Saturday off the Carolinas – the latest wild weather expected to hit the U.S. over the long holiday weekend as a fourth person was found dead amid flooding in Texas.
Tropical Storm Bonnie formed just before 5:00 p.m. ET and was about 130 miles southeast of Beaufort, South Carolina and packing maximum sustained winds of 45 mph winds as of 11 p.m., the National Hurricane Center said. It was forecast to drench the Carolinas with up to three inches of rain, which had already started falling on the South Carolina coast earlier Saturday.
Whipping winds and dangerous waves as high as 13 feet could also hit the two states, as well as Georgia and Florida over the coming days, forecasters said.
As of Saturday evening, no evacuations were ordered. Charleston police warned drivers to be wary of downed trees and power lines, and to not drive through flooded areas. A little more than 1 1/2 inches of rain was recorded at Charleston Air Force Base by Saturday evening, according to the National Weather Service.
A depression becomes a tropical storm when winds reach 39 mph. Forecasters detected winds at 40 mph, making Bonnie the season’s second-named tropical storm, four days before the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
