Tropical storm warnings are in effect for portions of South Carolina after the second named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season formed on Wednesday.
Tropical Storm Bertha made landfall Wednesday around 9:30 a.m. along the South Carolina coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph with higher gusts, and is moving northwest at 9 mph.
On its current path, forecasters say the storm will move inland across eastern and northern South Carolina before crossing into west-central North Carolina in the evening.
The storm is expected to produce 2-4 inches of rainfall, with isolated totals of 8 inches across eastern and central South Carolina. The rain is forecast to extend into southwest Virginia.
This is the second named storm to form before the official start of hurricane season on June 1. Last week, Tropical Storm Arthur formed off Florida’s east coast before grazing North Carolina and moving out to sea.
With the formation of Arthur, 2020 is the sixth straight year that a named storm has developed before June 1.
