(Reuters) - Tropical Storm Bonnie, the first of the year to threaten the United States, is expected to reach the South Carolina coast on Saturday evening or early Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said after upgrading the system from a tropical depression. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast a 70 percent likelihood of 10 to 16 named storms in the upcoming hurricane season. U.S. meteorologists have predicted an increase in the number of named storms this hurricane season after the number was below average during the past three years. The center of the system was about 120 miles (195 km) south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, as of 5 p.m., the federal agency reported. The formation of Bonnie marks the second such weather system of 2016, following one that grew into Hurricane Alex in the far eastern Atlantic in January, according to the center.

Source: Huffington Post May 28, 2016 22:41 UTC