MIAMI, Florida-- Tropical Storm Hanna sped toward the southeastern coast of the U.S. on Friday, and forecasters predicted that the storm would strengthen slightly before reaching land Saturday.
A surfer goes airborne in waves generated by Tropical Storm Hanna off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
As of 11 p.m. ET, Hanna was about 140 miles south of Wilmington, North Carolina, carrying maximum sustained winds near 70 mph with higher gusts, just below hurricane status of 74 mph, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
The storm, which had spent several days meandering around the southern Bahamas, was moving north at a fast clip of about 20 mph, and forecasters expected it to speed up even more Saturday before turning northeast.
The storm was expected to hit near the South Carolina-North Carolina state line between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. ET, according to hurricane center projections.
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tropical storm warning extends from Altamaha Sound, Georgia, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, including all of Chesapeake Bay, the tidal Potomac River, Washington and Delaware Bay.
The center said the storm is likely to strengthen only slightly but warned that it is still possible for Hanna to become a hurricane before hitting land.
Meanwhile, Ike -- "a small, but impressive hurricane" -- is still far out in the Atlantic, forecasters said, but they warned that it could come ashore in southern Florida as a Category 4 storm by Tuesday night.
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