Weather forecasters were predicting that a massive storm would soon make landfall on the East Coast of the United States.

The system could reach the status of a tropical storm, according to The New York Times. If so, it would be named Ophelia.

It’s expected that its repercussions could impact the weather from North Carolina to New England, spanning roughly half of the nation’s Eastern Seaboard, starting Friday.

The National Weather Service warned that the effects of the storm could prove dangerous to both life and property.

“There is a possibility of life-threatening inundation from rising water moving inland from the coastline,” it said Thursday.

“That’s especially true around Virginia Beach, the North Carolina Outer Banks and along the Chesapeake Bay.”

“That’s where a storm surge of 3 feet or more is possible, due to strong onshore flow that will pile water against the coast.”

The weather service expected that the storm soon would meet the qualification of a subtropical storm.

Satellite imagery of the brewing storm revealed thickening and growing cloud formations.

Meteorologists warned that storm surges ranging from 1 to 5 feet could collide with shores from New Jersey to the Carolinas.

Some areas of the East Coast could see as much as five inches of rain as a result of the storm, although most major cities could expect smaller amounts.

Signage in one North Carolina county cautioned motorists about the upcoming storm, notifying them of a flood watch in effect.

The storm’s remnants were expected to hit Massachusetts on Sunday, with its presence fading away at the start of next week.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.