Expert: Hurricane season picking up steam, impact likely in Virginia

The Atlantic hurricane season is picking up steam with active systems developing close to the United States, according to AccuWeather.

Tropical Storm Dexter, the fourth named storm of the season, is moving northeast and away from the coast, said Thomas Kines, senior meteorologist.

The storm developed over the weekend a few hundred miles off the Carolina coast.

While there may be no threat to land, the system will lead to rough surf conditions including dangerous rip currents from Florida to Massachusetts, including Hampton Roads and the Outer Banks.

Another tropical depression or storm is possible before the end of the week.

“There is concern for tropical development later this week off the south coast of the United States,” said Kines. “This would be from an area of thunderstorms now well east of the Bahamas that is moving toward the U.S.”

Kines said this system isn’t expected to become a hurricane, but it could become a tropical storm.

If the storm forms and moves inland, a serious flash flood risk may evolve in some areas of Virginia.

“If this does materialize, there could be rain and gusty wind impacts along the coast of Georgia, the Carolinas and perhaps as far north as southeast Virginia Friday into the weekend.”