Tropical Depression 3/Bonnie very unlikely to impact Charleston
It’s likely we’ll see Tropical Depression 3 or Bonnie classified at 11am, according to the National Hurricane Center. It’s highly unlikely that Bonnie would pose a threat to the Charleston area (see the NWS Charleston forecast discussion for more). The computer models are in great agreement that TD-3/Bonnie will head near or over extreme South Florida before curving into the Gulf of Mexico (where a second landfall is less clear). South Carolina and Georgia are stuck under a ridge of high pressure which is keeping things quite hot — heat advisories will be around for several more days, it looks like — and redirecting storm systems around it. According to the NWS forecast discussion, the most TD-3/Bonnie may do is train in some drier air which may inhibit afternoon thunderstorms later this week.
I’ll continue to keep watch to the tropics; we’re heading into August and are just a few weeks from the climatological peak of hurricane season, so don’t let this slow start fool you — there’s plenty of time for more storms.