Ophelia weakens to a tropical depression as it churns across Virginia

Ophelia was downgraded from a tropical storm to a tropical depression on Saturday evening, having weakened as it churned over southeastern Virginia. The storm continues to endanger the Mid-Atlantic Coast with high gusts, coastal flooding and life-threatening rip currents northward to New Jersey over the weekend.

The National Hurricane Center discontinued all storm surge and tropical storm warnings in its 8 p.m. ET advisory.

"Additional weakening is expected, and Ophelia is likely to become a post-tropical cyclone" on Sunday, the center said.

Ophelia made landfall near Emerald Isle, N.C. at around 6:15 a.m. ET Saturday, with maximum winds of 70 mph, the center said. The cyclone's wind speeds were half that by Saturday evening's update. Ophelia is forecast to pass through southeastern Virginia and then the Delmarva Peninsula into Sunday.

Coastal flooding concerns remain in the Mid-Atlantic

Ophelia has already dumped over 3 inches of rain in Raleigh, N.C., breaking the area's daily record set in 1906 by more than an inch, according to the National Weather Service.

Portions of the Mid-Atlantic were forecast to get 1-3 inches of rainfall into Sunday, which could create considerable flash, urban and small stream flooding in parts of North Carolina to New Jersey, the NHC said. Southeastern New York through southern New England is also expected to see 1-3 inches through Monday morning. Some Mid-Atlantic areas could see up to 5 inches of rain.

A tornado or two in the region may occur.

On Friday, the governors of Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia declared a state of emergency.

The region stretching from Hatteras Inlet, N.C., to Manasquan Inlet in North Carolina, N.J., could see floodwaters rise 1-3 ft. The Chesapeake Bay, Tidal Rivers and the Delaware Bay could also see up to 3 feet. Beaufort Inlet to Hatteras Inlet, N.C., could see 1-2 feet of flooding. The Neuse, Bay, Pamlico, and Pungo Rivers, as well as the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds are also expected to see 1-2 feet.

Floods have become more frequent and severe in most of the U.S. due to more extreme precipitation and sea level rise from climate change.

Ophelia takes a toll on parts of North Carolina, Virginia and the New York Yankees

As the storm passed through central North Carolina, winds reaching between 20 and 25 mph with greater gusts of 35 to 45 mph resulted in downed trees and more power outages, the NWS said Saturday afternoon. In Raleigh, crews were assisting in local evaluations off of Highway 17 near the Pamlico Sound.

Under 2,000 customers in North Carolina were without power on Saturday night, dropping from the afternoon when about 30,000 customers had no power, according to PowerOutage.US which tracks outages across the country. The number of customers with no power in Virginia was about 8,000 on Saturday night.

The Virginia National Guard was on standby to perform water rescues and help clear debris, the state department of emergency management said.

Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey are also bracing for possible power outages as the storm heads their way. New York City also issued a travel advisory for the weekend, warning of heavy rain and potential flooding.

In light of weather concerns, the New York Yankees postponed their home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks to Monday.

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