(CNN) — An area of stormy weather off the Southeast coast became Tropical Depression Three late Friday afternoon, the third system of the Atlantic hurricane season, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm isn’t a significant threat to land, but could drench parts of the Southeast and create risky beach conditions through the weekend.
The center of Tropical Depression Three is roughly 150 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, but its clouds and influence on weather extends to the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.
The storm’s sustained winds are 35 mph as of 5 p.m. Friday. Slightly strengthening is expected this weekend and the National Hurricane Center is projecting the system to become Tropical Storm Chantal on Saturday.
A tropical storm watch has been issued for much of the South Carolina coast from Edisto Beach to Little River Inlet.
Tropical Depression Three is crawling northward at just 2 mph. A slow northward movement will continue Friday night before a turn to the northwest on Saturday. This motion is expected to bring the center of the storm into the South Carolina coast by early Sunday.
The latest forecasts suggest Three could kick off several rounds of thunderstorms that could drop more than 2 to 4 inches of rain on parts of the Carolinas, with isolated amounts of up to 6 inches by Monday.
The system is expected to bring 1 to 2 feet of storm surge in areas of onshore winds. Additionally, rough surf and rip currents will continue to plague much of the Carolina coastline through the holiday weekend.
Outside of the Southeast, most of the country will see ideal conditions for July 4th weekend, particularly in the Northeast and West, where calm, mostly clear skies are expected from Friday on. The Southeast is likely to dry out by Tuesday.
Texas and the Upper Midwest could continue to see strong to severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and hail through the weekend. Torrential rainfall triggered deadly flooding in Texas early Friday morning as rivers rushed beyond their banks and flooded nearby campgrounds and homes.
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