Goodbye Ernesto, Hello Labor Day Weekend!

Tropical Storm Ernesto made landfall around 11:30pm Thursday night near Long Beach, North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center estimates the storm had sustained winds around 70mph at landfall, just below hurricane strength. There was at least one unofficial report of a 76mph wind gust at Rodanthe along the Outer Banks.

Ernesto weakened as it moved inland and was downgraded to a tropical depression by 11am Friday morning. The storm caused some spotty wind damage across the News 14 Carolina viewing area. We have received a few reports of downed trees and powerlines. You can see storm photos from the storm sent in by our viewers below this blog post. If you have any photos to share, send an e-mail to weather@news14.com

The heavy rains associated with Ernesto stayed mainly east of I-95. Luckily, the News 14 Carolina viewing area was spared from flooding rains. Here's a look at rain totals from Thursday and Friday from around the state --

• Grifton: 9,85"
• Wilmington: 9.58"
• Kinston: 9.57"
• Wallace: 8.00"
• Richlands: 7.06"
• Greenville: 6.96"
• New Bern: 5.60"
• Rocky Mount-Wilson: 3.55"
• Goldsboro: 2.89"
• Fayetteville: 2.11"
• Raleigh-Durham: 1.41"

The remnants of Ernesto will continue to move to the north taking heavy rains through the Mid-Atlantic states Friday afternoon and evening. Weather conditions should improve across central North Carolina into the weekend as we all prepare for the Labor Day holiday.

If you've got outdoor plans this weekend, like one of the area's college football games (Go Wolfpack!), the weather should not be too much of a problem. We will have to keep an eye out for a few storms to pop-up in the afternoon.