Tropical threat starts the holiday weekend

A series of cold fronts and the east coast's first tropical system of the season could bring a wet start to the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

The beach in Asbury Park by Convention Hall (Gino D., Townsquare Media NJ)

The storm was upgraded to a tropical storm named Arthur late on Tuesday morning with sustained winds of 40 MPH. with sustained winds of 40 MPH located 95 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Florida according to the National Weather Service Hurricane Center which has issued a Tropical Storm Watch for Florida's East Coast from Ft. Pierce to Flagler Beach for tropical storm conditions to develop within the next 24-36 hours.

Metorologist Alan Kasper expects Arthur to track up the coast and then veer off to the north off the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Friday morning, staying well to the south of New Jersey early Saturday morning with "minimal impact" for the Jersey Shore.

"We are anticipating pretty heavy rain Thursday night into Friday," says National Weather Service observing program leader James Bunker. "Right now there are indications that it could clear out just enough for the fireworks Friday night."

In fact, Kasper expects both Saturday and Sunday to both be sunny with temperatures in the 80s. The only lingering effect of the storm will be a high risk of rip currents for the entire weekend.

In a briefing issued by the National Weather Seravice,a series of cold fronts are expected to intersect with Arthur to create showers and thunderstorms along with tropical downpour that could dump 2-3 inches of rain on New Jersey on Thursday and parts of Friday. "This is NOT Super Storm Sandy," stressed the National Weather Service's Mt. Holly office while warning of winds, tidal and fresh water flooding, rip currents and heavy surf. "The interaction between those two is what's going to give us the impact for showers and thunderstorms into Friday," explained Bunker.

Get the latest information on the tropical weather texting WEATHER to 89000.