As Western North Carolina marks one year since Hurricane Helene, another weather system in the Atlantic is drawing attention. The disturbance, known as AL94, is expected to organize into a tropical depression or storm near the Bahamas in the coming days. If it becomes a named storm, it would be called Imelda.
National Weather Service meteorologist Clay Chaney says there’s still a lot of uncertainty because the system has not yet formed a clear center of circulation. That makes it difficult to know whether it will track toward the Carolinas or remain offshore.
“Once you form that low pressure system—the center of the storm—it’s easier to keep track of where it would potentially go,” Chaney said. “Right now, some of the models show landfall in the Carolinas, others keep it offshore. That picture should get clearer over the weekend.”
Chaney added that some forecasts do include potential impacts in the mountains:
“Some of the tracks actually pull it toward the Western Carolinas,” he said. “If that happens, early next week we could see heavy rainfall and possibly some gusty winds, depending on how strong the system gets as it approaches the coast.”
With memories of Helene still fresh, Chaney encouraged residents to double-check preparedness steps — including having a reliable way to receive alerts.
“We understand why people are on edge, especially at the one-year anniversary,” he said. “One of the best things you can do is make sure your emergency kits are up to date, and have a NOAA Weather Radio. If power goes out, it’s one of the surest ways to get warnings and local updates.”
Updates from the National Hurricane Center are issued every six hours at nhc.noaa.gov Localized forecasts for the mountains are at weather.gov/gsp/tropical.