WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Nearly three months into the 2023 Hurricane Season, the Cape Fear is set to experience its first brush of the year from a tropical system.
The coastal areas are already experiencing dangerous rip current risks as major Hurricane Franklin churns nearly 500 miles offshore. Franklin will move further away over the next couple of days, setting the stage for Hurricane Idalia to impact our area.
Idalia is currently a hurricane in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, expected to make landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida as a strong category 2, potential category 3 late Wednesday morning.
Idalia will weaken as it moves inland and up the southeast coast, curving back out to sea into the day on Thursday, but will still bring notable impacts to our area.
Here’s a breakdown of the current thinking on the impact Idalia could bring the Cape Fear:
RIP CURRENT/MARINE CONDITIONS
As stated, coastal zones are already experiencing hazardous rip current conditions, with the threat expected to remain elevated into the weekend as Idalia moves by. Marine conditions will worsen as waves begin to increase into Wednesday.
TORNADOES
The overall risk of tornadoes is low, but has increased over the past 24 hours. As the outer bands of Idalia rotate through, waterspouts could form offshore and make their way on land, triggering tornado warnings. The Storm Prediction Center has the entire Cape Fear under the risk of tornadoes Wednesday, with the greatest threat being along the coast.
WINDS
Sustained winds of 30 to 40 mph along the coast are expected, with 20 to 30 mph winds forecast further inland. Everywhere could see gusts upwards of 40+ mph late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
FLOODING
The biggest threat appears to be flash flooding as heavy tropical bands of rain push in, dumping inches of rain in a few hours. Most places will see four to six inches of rain, with localized amounts of eight inches being possible.
STORM SURGE
The storm surge won’t be as bad as we saw during Isaias, but coastal zones could still see around one to two feet of surge. The biggest risk will come around 8:00 p.m. Wednesday and 8:00 a.m. Thursday, around the high tide times.
For the latest update, keep it tuned to WWAY. Also download the free StormTrack 3 weather app for notification.