A storm system closing in from the Atlantic Ocean is expected to become Tropical Storm Imelda as early as Saturday night, and could affect the southeast U.S. coastline in the coming week.
The storm — officially called Tropical Depression Nine as of Saturday afternoon — was earlier located northwest of the eastern tip of Cuba, moving northwest at around 7 mph and forecast to cross the central and northwestern Bahamas this weekend, the National Hurricane Center said.
It was expected to become a tropical storm either Saturday night or early Sunday morning. When it becomes a tropical storm, it will take the name Imelda.
The storm is expected to approach the southeastern U.S. coast early next week, but there have been positive trends in the forecast.
For now, a tropical storm watch has been issued for the east coast of central Florida all the way up to Southern Georgia.
A tropical storm warning continues for most of the Bahamas.
The tropical depression is expected to move into more favorable conditions over the next 24 hours, the reason for its expected strengthening.
Sunday through Monday, the likely storm will track north through the Bahamas and parallel to the east coast of Florida where it will batter the Bahamas with heavy rain and tropical-storm-force winds.
While there is still some uncertainty with the track because of a complex steering setup, weather models are beginning to align with the storm beginning to slow down as it approaches the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, then making a hard turn east and avoiding landfall. It may also get a helping “tug” from strong Hurricane Humberto well off to the east near Bermuda.
By around Tuesday, the system will be close to the Georgia and South Carolina coasts as possibly a strong tropical storm or weak Category 1 hurricane, and this is where the heaviest rain and strongest winds will be on display for the Carolinas.
Storm surge and coastal flooding for the Carolinas and coastal Georgia will also be possible for the first half of next week.
This storm will interact with a stalled front that will be draped over the Southeast coast this weekend into next week, which will allow for multiple days of rainfall across the coast from Georgia up to Virginia.
Even though a landfall is looking increasingly unlikely, the coastline all the way up to Virginia is expected to see indirect impacts. There will be some rain, moderate wind gusts and coastal flooding from a prolonged onshore flow.
In an afternoon press conference, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster said the state has “no intention” of issuing any mandatory evacuation orders for the upcoming storm, but that people should not “be misled.”
“We know that we’re going to have high winds, we know that we’re going to have a lot of water,” the governor said.
McMaster also invoked the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene to compare it to the uncertainty of this storm.
“We remember that it did not go exactly where it was expected to go,” McMaster said. “This storm does not look as strong as it looked yesterday, but that could change tonight.”
The governor said he is “expecting” the federal government to cooperate with them, “100%,” and that Friday’s emergency declaration was to begin putting people and equipment in the right places, including helicopters and aerial resources.
“The good news is the storm will probably stay out in the ocean,” McMaster said, while still cautioning people to be prepared. “Don’t drive through standing water… we lose a lot of people through drowning,” the governor said, calling that “pitiful.”
The city of Charleston, South Carolina, also issued a local state of emergency out of an abundance of caution.
“Today’s action is about readiness,” said Mayor William Cogswell. “Our teams are clearing drains, staging pumps and barricades, and adjusting staffing so we can respond quickly if conditions worsen
In North Carolina, Gov. Josh Stein also declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the expected storm.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Humberto has rapidly intensified to become the third major hurricane of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season and the second Category 5 storm of the year. The NHC said Saturday that Humberto is expected to “remain a powerful major hurricane through early next week.”
Humberto is still expected to track west of Bermuda on Tuesday through Wednesday and stay hundreds of miles west of the U.S., eventually turning northeast and back out to sea without a landfall.
It could also interact with Imelda and help pull the storm out to sea along with it.
