MIAMI – Hurricane Arthur will hit the North Carolina coast on Thursday night packing winds of up to 150 kilometers per hour (93 mph), the Miami-based National Hurricane Center predicted.In its 7 p.m. advisory, the NHC said that the center of the storm is located 55 km (35 mi.) south of Cape Fear and 225 km (140 mi.) southwest of Cape Hatteras, both of which are in North Carolina, and is moving north-northeast at 24 kph (15 mph).
A hurricane reconnaissance aircraft sent to monitor the storm found that Arthur has maximum sustained winds of about 150 kph (93 mph) with heavier gusts and is expected to strengthen in the coming hours.
Given this forecast, experts anticipate that Arthur will be a Category 2 storm with winds above 154 kph (95 mph) when it makes landfall on – or brushes – the North Carolina coast and will then begin to weaken on Friday evening.
On Saturday, if the forecast holds, the hurricane will weaken to a post-tropical storm.
Authorities said that a hurricane warning is in effect for Surf City, North Carolina, to the North Carolina-Virginia border, Pamlico Sound and Eastern Albemarle Sound, while a hurricane watch is in effect for the area from Little River Inlet to south of Surf City.
Arthur is the first hurricane of the Atlantic storm season, which began on June 1 and will last until Nov. 30.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicts that 8-13 tropical storms will form this season, of which 3-6 will become hurricanes and one or two will be powerful storms
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