Track Tropical Storm Ophelia as storm nearly reaches hurricane status, hits North Carolina coast

Tropical Storm Ophelia is forecasted to bring heavy rain, strong winds and possibly even tornadoes to much of the East Coast this weekend.

The storm made landfall about 6:15 a.m. ET Saturday near Emerald Isle, North Carolina as a strong tropical storm with winds up to 70 mph, just 4 mph from hurricane strength.

Portions of eastern North Carolina were issued a hurricane watch Friday as the storm is expected to bring up to 10 inches and could impact multiple games across the NFL and MLS.

"People in coastal areas should take this storm seriously," AccuWeather meteorologist Bernie Rayno told USA TODAY. "This is going to be a nasty and formidable storm."

The storm also carries the danger of a life-threatening storm surge, high surf and rip currents, as well as heavy rainfall across the Mid-Atlantic, from North Carolina to New Jersey, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Tropical Storm Ophelia forms: Why its status was confusing

The National Weather Service said rain from Ophelia continues to move west towards the Piedmont Triad but is expected to weaken when it encounters much drier air over the western Piedmont region.

Tropical Storm Ophelia path tracker live

This forecast tracker shows the most likely path of the center of the storm. It does not illustrate the full width of the storm or its impacts, and the center of the storm is likely to travel outside the cone up to 33% of the time.

Tropical Storm Ophelia spaghetti models

A note about the spaghetti models: Model plot illustrations include an array of forecast tools and models, and not all are created equal. The hurricane center uses the top four or five highest-performing models to help make its forecasts.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ophelia tracker: Follow tropical storm as it heads toward Mid-Atlantic