Tropical Storm Ana threatens Carolinas with rough surf, rain

By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Winds from Tropical Storm Ana, the first named storm of the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, picked up onshore in the Carolinas on Saturday and beachgoers were warned of expected dangerous rip currents and heavy rain. Ana was moving slightly faster toward the U.S. Southeast coast with maximum sustained winds of 60 miles per hour (95 km/h) after it transitioned overnight into a tropical storm, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said. The storm was positioned Saturday morning about 65 miles (105 km) south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina , the weather agency said. The storm had slowed slightly, moving at about 3 mph(5 km/h), and the centre of the storm was forecast to be "very near" the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina by Sunday morning, according to the hurricane centre. It is predicted to begin weakening as it moves over cooler waters near the coastline. Tropical storm warnings were in effect for areas along a 275-mile (443 km) swath from South Santee River in South Carolina to Cape Lookout in North Carolina, at the southern end of the Outer Banks. The tropical storm conditions were due to hit within 12 to 24 hours, the weather agency said. The U.S. National Weather Service office in Wilmington said a wind gust of 40 mph was recorded at the local airport, the highest its staff had observed so far on land from Ana. Emergency management officials and forecasters urged caution for beachgoers and boaters, saying it was best to stay out of the water when the rip currents were strongest. The hurricane centre said the storm would bring anywhere from one to five inches of rain (2.5-12.7cm), and the storm surge could bring flooding of up to two feet (61 cm) in some coastal areas. Ana's formation is the earliest appearance of a named storm in the Atlantic since a previous incarnation of Subtropical Storm Ana on April 20, 2003, said Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist for Weather Underground, a commercial weather service. The Atlantic hurricane season typically runs from June 1 through Nov. 30. (Reporting by Harriet McLeod; Writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by Toby Chopra, Victoria Cavaliere and Christian Plumb)