North Carolina: Hurricane Arthur strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane and made landfall, with maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (155 kph) as it climbed up the U.S. East Coast.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said that little additional change in strength was expected Friday and that the storm would begin weakening Friday night.
Early Friday morning, Arthur was located about 40 miles (60 kilometers) north-northeast of Cape Lookout and about 40 miles west-southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was moving northeast at 18 mph (30 kph).
Arthur forced thousands of vacationers in North Carolina to abandon their Independence Day plans, while cities farther up the U.S. East Coast rescheduled fireworks displays threatened by the storm.
The annual Boston Pops Fourth of July concert and fireworks show was rescheduled for Thursday because of potential heavy rain, while fireworks displays in New Jersey and Maine were postponed until later in the weekend.
Arthur is the first named storm of the Atlantic season.
Tropical storm warnings were also in effect for coastal areas in South Carolina and Virginia and as far north as Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Watch: Hurricane Arthur Strengthens Takes Aim at East Coast starting at North Carolina
