Tropical Storm Threatens U.S.

    Tropical Storm Cristobal formed off the
Southeast coast Saturday, the first storm to threaten the U.S. this
hurricane season, forecasters said.
    The storm’s stregthened from a tropical depression, and promised
to bring much-needed rains to the eastern Carolinas before it was
predicted to slip out to sea.
    At 2 p.m. EDT, the center of the storm was about 100 miles east
of Charleston and about 225 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.
    The National Hurricane Center said Cristobal (pronounced
crist-TOE’-ball) was moving northeast at about 7 mph.
    Although the center of the storm, with maximum sustained winds
of 40 mph, was forecast to remain off the coast through the
weekend, tropical storm warnings were in effect from the South
Santee River in South Carolina to the North Carolina-Virginia state
line, including Pamlico Sound.
    Flood advisories were posted for coastal counties and
Wilmington, N.C., received 2½ inches of rain Saturday, said Stephen
Keebler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service there.
Cristobal’s winds were not expected to be a problem, Keebler said.
    “It’s some rain and a little bit of relief for the coastal
areas and a lot of excitement, but that’s about it,“ he said.
    The rain bands were weakening as they spun farther inland,
providing little relief for parched areas near Interstate 95 in
North Carolina, he said.