The third tropical storm of 2025 has formed in the Atlantic, and it’s expected to hit the United States.

The National Hurricane Center named Tropical Storm Chantal on Saturday morning. Forecasters expect it to track to the north and make landfall soon in South Carolina, where a tropical storm warning is now in effect.

Chantal is in the western Atlantic and no threat to the Alabama coast, or areas inland.

As of 7 a.m. CDT Saturday, Tropical Storm Chantal was located about 150 miles south-southeast of Charleston, S.C., and was tracking to the north at 2 mph.

Chantal had sustained winds of 40 mph, making it a minimal tropical storm. The hurricane center expects Chantal to strengthen some before moving onshore, but it is not expected to become a hurricane.

A tropical storm warning is in effect from the South Santee River, S.C., to Cape Fear, N.C.

A tropical storm watch stretches along the coast from Edisto Beach, S.C., to the South Santee River.

The hurricane center said those elsewhere along the southeast coast of the United States should also keep an eye on Chantal.

Chantal is expected to track slowly to the north and then northwest and move onshore in South Carolina by Sunday morning.

Tropical storm conditions will be possible in South Carolina starting Saturday night, forecasters said.

The area along the coast could also get 2 to 4 inches of rain, with isolated areas getting up to 6 inches, which could cause flash flooding.

A storm surge of 1-3 feet will also be possible along parts of the South and North Carolina coasts from Chantal.

Also a concern: The storm could churn up the near-shore waters along the Southeast U.S. coast and cause deadly rip currents far from where it makes landfall.

Chantal formed about a month ahead of schedule, according to Colorado State University hurricane expert Dr. Philip Klotzbach:

Chantal is the only area of concern in the tropical Atlantic (which includes the Gulf and Caribbean) as of Saturday.

There have been two other tropical storms so far this hurricane season, and both were weak and short-lived.

Andrea, the first storm of 2025, formed on June 24 in the central Atlantic and didn’t affect land. The second storm, Barry, formed in the southern Gulf (or Bay of Campeche) but weakened to a tropical depression before moving onshore in eastern Mexico on June 29.

This season NOAA is forecasting between 17-19 named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes), six to 10 hurricanes and three to five major hurricanes (Category 3 or stronger storms).

According to NOAA an average Atlantic hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes.