As messy as advertised, with the brunt yet to come
The flooding situation has been as messy as advertised this morning. NWS just reported that the high tide at Charleston Harbor this morning was 7.75 feet — well beyond the point where coastal flooding begins even without rain (typically 7 feet).
Traffic into downtown Charleston is nearly impossible. The Crosstown is closed and it’s not likely to reopen for a little while. Stalled cars litter the streets-turned-rivers downtown. Josh Marthers at WCBD captures the flooding situation well. I also highly recommend watching traffic tweets and pictures (and there are some good ones) on Collecta.
And as bad as this morning was, we haven’t seen the worst of it. This morning’s Day 1 Convective Outlook from the Storm Prediction Center continues the “slight risk” for severe weather in Charleston, and this could be upgraded to a “moderate risk” later today, especially if any sunshine peeks through and adds more fuel to the fire. The storm system which is expected to wreak havoc on us later this evening has already dropped several tornadoes in the Florida panhandle, and there is a good possibility we may see at least one or two tornadic cells later today in the Lowcountry. Straight-line damaging winds continue to be the primary threat from this system, though.
There’s a good shot that we’ll have a tornado watch in effect by 3PM today. Keep an eye to Twitter as the day progresses with updates from NWS and SPC. We’ll announce watches and warnings there as they happen.
Jared Smith 1:36 pm on December 2, 2009 Permalink
Not much has changed with the new Day 1 Outlook. Charleston is still listed as having an elevated risk of tornadoes and damaging winds. In the latest Hazardous Weather Outlook, NWS Charleston called this afternoon’s severe weather threat a “potentially dangerous situation” — something NWS does not say lightly. Here’s hoping for the best, but it does look like the ingredients are going to come together for a very rough late afternoon and evening. Some clearing was observed in Georgia — let’s just hope that doesn’t happen here.
Jared Smith 3:15 pm on December 2, 2009 Permalink
Tornado Watch now in effect for a great deal of SC, including Charleston and surrounding areas, until 9 PM. More information forthcoming.