Outer Banks Group suspends visitor services at Cape Hatteras due to tropical storm threat

Services at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Wright Brothers National Memorial will be suspended at noon on Tuesday while the area waits for a tropical storm to pass. Officials expect normal operations to resume on Wednesday.

Beach access ramps will remain open to off-road vehicles and pedestrians, but some routes could become impassable during both high and low tide.

The system developed off the coast of Georgia and began its ascent up the coast Monday morning.

"A lot of the rain we will get from this will be pretty light in (the Triangle) area," said WRAL meteorologist Elizabeth Gardner. "It will be wet enough to cause some slippery roads, but the drizzle won't do much more."

A tropical storm watch was issued for the entire North Carolina coast Sunday evening, but that was expanded to a tropical storm warning for parts of the coast Monday afternoon.