Arthur Leaves Thousands Without Power on Path to Canada

The storm was 145 miles (233 kilometers) east-northeast of Norfolk, Virginia, at 10 a.m. local time with Category 1-strength winds of 90 miles per hour, down from a peak of 100, moving northeast at 21 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. Arthur was the first hurricane to hit the U.S. since 2012.

"The closest to land it's going to get in the U.S. is when it passes by Cape Cod tonight," said Tom Kines, a meteorologist with AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. "Then it will head into far eastern Canada, giving them a good punch. It's going to be a powerful storm for those folks."

Arthur left at least 41,500 homes and businesses without power after it went ashore on North Carolina's Outer Banks overnight, according to the state's emergency management division, according to Bloomberg .

Some bridges and roads were shut and downtown Manteo flooded, but no deaths or major damage were immediately reported. Officials waited for waters to drop before assessing some areas. A Weather Channel correspondent posted on Twitter that he saw a woman rescued as she was giving birth in a car blocked by storm surge. "The North Carolina beaches are open for business," Governor Pat McCrory said at a briefing, while warning people to beware of rip currents.

Eastern Rain The storm delayed the passage of a cold front across the eastern U.S. which brought thunderstorms and gusty winds from New England to the mid-Atlantic states. By midmorning the front stretched from central New England into Pennsylvania, Kines said. Those storms were expected to move through New York during the course of the day.

"We're expecting the rain to be in and out and over in the city by 5 or 6 o'clock," said Lauren Nash, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Upton, New York.

The Macy's annual fireworks display is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. The only thing that might affect the show are winds of 15 mph to 25 mph during the night, said Kines. The Atlantic storm season runs from June 1 through Nov. 30, with the statistical peak Sept. 10 and the most activity from mid-August to mid-October, the hurricane center said. In a typical season, the first storm to get a name forms by July 9 and the first hurricane occurs by Aug. 10.

Alerts Posted A hurricane warning remained in place from Ocracoke Inlet, North Carolina, to the Virginia line as well as eastern Albemarle Sound, the center said. Tropical storm warnings were posted from the North Carolina state line to Cape Charles Light in Virginia, and for Nantucket and most of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Canada issued a warning from Digby to Porters Lake in Nova Scotia. In addition, a tropical storm watch was up for Nova Scotia north of Porters Lake, all of Prince Edward Island and in New Brunswick from the U.S. border to Grand-Anse.

"Some additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours and Arthur is expected to become a post-tropical cyclone tonight or Saturday," the center said in an advisory.

McCrory said people in Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts shouldn't let their guards down just because North Carolina escaped a severe blow.

"We got lucky with the tides; we got lucky with several other factors," McCrory said.