Tropical Storm Forms Off Carolina Coast

CHARLESTON, S.C. | Tropical Storm Cristobal, the first tropical storm to menace the Southeast seaboard this hurricane season, sent outer bands of intermittent rain lashing the eastern Carolinas late Saturday as forecasters predicted it could dump several inches in some areas of drought-stricken North Carolina.

At 8 p.m. EDT, the center of the storm was about 130 miles east of Charleston and about 185 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The National Hurricane Center said Cristobal was moving northeast at about 6 mph with maximum sustained winds of about 45 mph and some higher gusts.

"Basically the track is running parallel to the coast," said lead center forecaster Martin Nelson, speaking with The Associated Press by telephone from Miami. "Slow strengthening is forecast for the next day or two."

Forecasters predicted up to 5 inches of rain along the North Carolina coast, with heavier amounts in some areas.

Elsewhere Saturday, Hurricane Fausto strengthened far off Mexico's Pacific coast, while Hurricane Bertha raced rapidly to the northeast over the North Atlantic, hundreds of miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Neither of those storms currently threaten land.

Bertha had blustered across Bermuda earlier this week, knocking out electricity to thousands there.

[ Associated Press Writers Meg Kinnard in Columbia, S.C., and Bill Cormier in Atlanta contributed to this report. ]