Tropical Storm Cristobal rumbles off the Carolinas

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. "Slow strengthening is forecast for the next day or two."

At the By The Sea Motel in North Myrtle Beach, S.C., out-of-state visitors photographed outer storm bands as Cristobal churned off the coast, said hotel manager Charlie Peterson.
Intermittent light rain fell in the afternoon but that wasn't enough to chase them away.
"They've got their cameras set and they think there is going to be lightning over the water," he said.

Bradley Rose, a surf instructor at SandBarz in Carolina Beach, N.C., said surfers took the plunge.
"It looks pretty fun out there," Rose said.

Although the center of the storm was forecast to remain off the coast through the weekend, tropical storm warnings were in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to the North Carolina-Virginia state line, including Pamlico Sound.

Flood advisories were posted for coastal counties and Wilmington, N.C., received 2 1/2 inches of rain Saturday, said Stephen Keebler, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service there.

Cristobal's winds were not expected to be a problem, Keebler said.

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

Eastern North Carolina is under a moderate drought while areas along South Carolina's northern coast are considered abnormally dry, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Officials have blamed the drought for a huge wildfire that has charred more than 40,000 acres in eastern North Carolina since it began June 1 with a lightning strike.

Also, on 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.

Family of slain NC woman plan return to Canada

The parents of a North Carolina mother found slain near her home tearfully asked Friday for the culprit to show "a shred of decency" by confessing, while her husband's attorney said he's an innocent man who wants to grieve in private.

Nancy Cooper's body was found Monday at a construction site about three miles from her home in Cary, a Raleigh suburb.

Her husband, Bradley Cooper, told police that she went jogging on Saturday and he had not seen her since.

No suspects have been named, but a custody move for the couple's two young daughters has revealed deep tension between the wife's family and her husband.

Bradley Cooper's attorney, Seth Blum, said Friday that he has repeatedly answered questions from police and allowed them to search his home and vehicles. Authorities have said he has been cooperative.

The wife's parents won temporary custody of the children, claiming in court filings that the husband was having an affair, was emotionally unstable and posed a danger to the girls.

They claimed he recently threatened to commit suicide, was verbally abusive and prevented his wife and daughters from going to Canada by taking away the children's passports.

The wife's family didn't discuss those claims in emotional news conferences this week.
They focused on memories and praise for the mother and daughters.

The wife's father, Garry Rentz, said the girls have not even asked for their father.
He said his family's pain would only subside if her killer came forward and confessed.
"I think this is an act of extreme cowardice - whoever the person was who did this," Rentz said. "And I think if they had a shred of decency in their body, they would come forward and acknowledge their guilt."

The husband's attorney, meanwhile, took an apparent swipe at her family:
"Attending press briefings does nothing to catch a killer."
"Brad Cooper is a man in mourning," Blum said.
"Different people grieve in different ways. Mr. Cooper wishes to mourn privately."
Blum declined to answer questions about the custody battle, asking that those decisions be kept private.

Family members planned to take the girls to Canada this weekend and meet with a psychologist who was a friend of Nancy Cooper to get advice on how to explain the situation to the girls: One is 4 years old and the other turns 2 next week.
"We have not told them, and they have not mentioned to us that they know," Rentz said.
"So, we are going to walk very gingerly into this area."

After a private memorial service Friday night, the family will host a public memorial service Saturday afternoon in Raleigh.

They'll have a second service in Edmonton.

Family members planned to return next week before a Friday court hearing to decide a more long-term custody arrangement for the girls.

Police declined to discuss the case Friday.

Chief Pat Bazemore said they planned no other public updates on the case until they name a suspect or make an arrest.

"Would I like it to be over tomorrow morning? Yes, I would," Rentz said.
"Am I uncomfortable that it's not? No, and we'll allow people to take their time."

See what religion will get you

The military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand entered its fifth day Saturday as both sides continued to reinforce their troops ahead of scheduled talks over a disputed border area near an 11th century temple.

Some 300 more Cambodian soldiers and 100 Thais were seen arriving near the Preah Vihear temple late Friday, although commanders declined to confirm those numbers.

Earlier, Cambodian Brig. Gen. Chea Keo said Cambodia had about 800 troops against 400 Thai soldiers in the area.

The countries are to meet Monday in an attempt to defuse the conflict over territory surrounding the ancient temple, which escalated when UNESCO recently approved Cambodia's application to have the complex named a World Heritage Site.

Thai activists fear the new status will undermine Thailand's claim to nearby land since the border has never been demarcated.

Carolina Naturally is read in ...

Some odd sounding places like:

Owosso, Michigan - Palatine, Illinois - Metuen, Massachusetts - Cary, North Carolina - House Springs, Missouri - Blue Ridge, Georgia - Bayonne, New Jersey - Ketchikan, Alaska - Vandergrift, Pennsylvania - Concord, North Carolina

OK, so some of those don't sound too odd after all.

But what about these:

Ostersund, Sweden - Palma De Mallorca, Spain - Lodz, Poland - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Crawley, England

Well, some of those are not too odd either come to think of it are they?!

It is good for this ol'Scot to see readers from Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland.

I still haven't figured out just why this blog is so popular in Almere, Amsterdam and The Hague, Netherlands but I am not complaining.

Thanks to all the readers of Carolina Naturally.