Ragged and weakened, Tropical Storm Danny meandered toward North Carolina's Outer Banks on Friday -- with large, dangerous seas its most serious threat to the Northeast coast.

The National Hurricane Center left a tropical storm watch in place for the Carolina coast, but forecasters didn't expect the storm to grow much and it's strongest eastern side was expected to remain offshore.

At 5 p.m., Danny held on to minimal tropical storm strength with winds of 40 mph. After stalling much of the day, it began creeping north at 6 mph.

With the storm so disorganized, there was some uncertainity about its path, but forecasters expected it to parallel the coast, crossing close to the Outer Banks over night, then brushing New England late Saturday and the Canadian Maritimes by Sunday.

Though it wasn't expected to reach hurricane strength, Danny could still bring gale-force gusts to the coast. It also had churned up large swells that could create hazardous surf and rip tides.

The center was also closely watching a tropical wave about 900 miles west-southwest of the Cape Verde Islands. With favorable conditions in its path, forecasters gave it a medium chance of becoming the next named storm, Erika.

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