NU Online News Service, Aug. 26, 3:22 p.m. EDT

Weather forecasters pondering the possible track of Tropical Storm Danny said it could make a run at North Carolina and the Northeast over the weekend, possibly becoming a weak hurricane.

The National Hurricane Center issued an advisory this morning when the storm was north of the Bahamas, naming Danny the fourth tropical cyclone of the Atlantic Hurricane season.

The NHC said people in the Bahamas and Southeastern United States should monitor the progress of the storm in the coming days.

AccuWeather.com issued a statement saying that the areas of the Carolina coast to New England could be at risk of impact from Danny "depending on how close the system tracks to the East Coast."

The preliminary forecast issued by AccuWeather.com brings the storm just east of the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Friday night before taking a swipe at southern New England Saturday night.

Danny could also track more east and not make landfall at all, the forecast noted.

The Weather Underground weather Web site said predictive models seem to agree the storm will be offshore as it passes North Carolina, but it still has the capacity to deliver a direct hit to the Outer Banks in that state.

Passing North Carolina, the storm "should start heading north-northeast, with a second landfall likely Saturday night or Sunday morning somewhere between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia," the forecast said, noting that at that time it "is likely to be a strong tropical storm or weak Category 1 hurricane, with winds in the 55-to-80 mph range."

The NHC said Danny is expected to bring two-to-four inches of rain to central and Northwestern Bahamas and one-to-two inches are expected over Southeastern Bahamas and Caicos Islands.

Danny's five-day track, according to the NHC, has the storm off the coast of Virginia by Saturday morning, moving past Maine Sunday morning with hurricane force winds before moving past Newfoundland with tropical force winds on Monday.

Special Reports /

Forecast: Storm Danny Could Hit North Carolina, New England

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