Bonnie rebounds to soak Outer Banks

"It looks like Bonnie has become more organized in the last few hours," said WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. "The storm is not necessarily stronger, but it is more organized and is driving heavy rain off the coast of the Outer Banks."

The warm waters of the Gulf Stream will fuel Bonnie over about the next 24 to 48 hours, but as the system moves east-northeast, it will encounter cooler waters and again degenerate into just low pressure, Gardner said.

The outlook for storms inland is low, only about 20 percent Thursday and 40 percent through the weekend in Raleigh. Heat and humidity stick around, with forecast highs near 90 degrees each day and scattered late afternoon thundershowers.

A break in the steamy situation could come by Sunday, when a cool front crosses central North Carolina and knocks high temperatures back to the mid-80s.