Tropical Storm Cristobal Heads Out To Sea

Tropical Storm Cristobal headed for the open Atlantic late Sunday as forecasters discontinued tropical storm warnings along North and South Carolina.

At 11 p.m. EDT Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said Cristobal's center had moved to 30 miles east of Cape Hatteras with maximum sustained winds near 50 mph. The storm was headed northeast at 9 mph.

The advisory predicted little change in strength over the next day or two.

Cristobal's strongest winds were east of the center, out at sea, National Weather Service meteorologist Rich Bandy said.

The prospect of seeing Cristobal head out to sea pleased a fishing captain at Ocracoke, an island south of Cape Hatteras.

"Let's get it over with so we can go fishing," said Capt. David Nagel, who has operated the "Drum Stick" charter boat for 31 years. "Nobody's out. Everybody's tied up."

Cristobal's winds were expected to push tides up to 3 feet above normal. The National Weather Service said a few areas could see flooding from heavy rain.

Minor flooding was reported Saturday in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the area picked up 3.43 inches of rain, a record for the day.

The Hurricane Center also said Tropical Storm Bertha had lost its tropical system characteristics and was expected to weaken during the next day or so. The center of Bertha was 850 miles east-northeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.

A tropical storm warning remained in effect Monday for Mexico's Yucatan peninsula as Tropical Storm Dolly neared Cancun.

The National Hurricane Center said the storm was moving northwest near 15 mph and was expected to cross the peninsula and move into the Gulf of Mexico later Monday.

Dolly was expected to produce about 4 to 6 inches of rain across the northern Yucatan peninsula and in western Cuba.

Meanwhile in the Pacific, Hurricane Fausto was expected to continue moving northwest. Forecasters expected the hurricane to weaken to a tropical storm in the next two days.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs through Nov. 30.