THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200407
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 33 lines
The National Hurricane Center is keeping its satellite eyes on a large area of stormy weather about 200 miles off the coast of the Carolinas.
Satellite pictures, buoy data and ship reports Tuesday showed indications of a weak surface low-pressure area having formed off the North and South Carolina coasts. The broad area of cloudiness and thunderstorms extended mainly southward to just east of central Florida.
``We believe we can see a little bit of a low-pressure center forming'' in the system, said John Hope, The Weather Channel's chief hurricane tracker. Such a formation would indicate potential strengthening and be a precursor to a tropical storm. But the barometric pressure at sea level in the system remained high Tuesday, suggesting that further development, if any, would likely be slow to occur.
The Hurricane Center was planning to send a reconnaissance aircraft into the system today to check on its strength and organization.
The system was moving toward the northwest at about 10 mph, a course that, unchecked, would eventually bring it ashore in the Carolinas. ``We think it will continue to move in that general direction,'' Hope said.
Emergency services officials in Hampton Roads and northeast North Carolina were keeping tabs on the system's development but were taking no other immediate action. by CNB