Tropical Storm Danny

A NOAA Hurricane Hunter investigation this morning concluded that Tropical Storm Danny has indeed formed after becoming better-organized Wednesday and developing a surface low pressure center around which the tropical convection will be focused. Danny is currently about 445 miles east of Nassau in the Bahamas, and is expected to produce rain totals in the Central and Northwestern Bahamas of two to three inches. Maximum sustained winds are at 45mph, but slow strengthening is possible the next several days, when Danny may reach Category 1 hurricane status late Friday or early Saturday. Movement is to the west-northwest at 18mph, which will take Danny on a course for the Outer Banks by Friday into early Saturday. While it appears that the center of the tropical storm will remain just offshore in the Atlantic, eastern North Carolina and Virgina may receive some of the impacts inland from Danny, including gusty winds, storm squalls, and high surf along the coastlines.