Tagged: Flooding RSS

  • Jared Smith 10:41 am on January 21, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: Flooding, ,   

    Tough commute possible this afternoon 

    Heavy rain and thunderstorms — a few of which could reach severe limits — are a possibility this afternoon as a storm system pushes its way east through the area. While the best severe potential remains south of here (think Beaufort), there’s still a shot of some heavy rumbling up in Charleston. We’re not included in a watch or convective outlook yet, though that could change as the day rolls on.

    Another concern is flooding. Localized totals of 3″ are forecasted. Right now, expect the heavier rains to start around noon and pick up throughout the afternoon. As with any heavy rain event, street flooding in the usual spots downtown cannot be ruled out, but a widespread flooding event is probably not so much in the cards, as tides will be receding throughout the afternoon. High tide is at 11:20 AM, followed by low tide at 5:46 PM.

    Continue to watch this thread and @chswx for updates throughout the day.

     

    • Jared Smith 2:44 pm on January 21, 2010 Permalink

      Thanks to the steady rain, severe weather won’t be a worry this afternoon. The rain has been heavy at times, but rainfall totals haven’t been anything to write home about just yet. Still watching for a chance at some local flooding — particularly in the coastal areas — but the tide situation is on our side with that. Be careful if you have to travel today, as the rain and occasionally blustery wind will make things a bit difficult, particularly on the bridges.

  • Jared Smith 10:40 pm on December 14, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , Flooding, ,   

    Rain, potential flooding Tuesday morning 

    Our wetter-than-average December will continue through Tuesday — another several inches of rain are expected during the day Tuesday as another system pushes through the area. There are some concerns on the timing of the system — we could yet again see heavy rain coinciding with a high tide in downtown Charleston tomorrow morning. (High tide occurs just after 7am.) Thus, a Flash Flood Watch is in effect for Charleston County — primarily targeted at those areas of downtown that flood — through the morning hours. If your commute takes you through downtown, be careful of areas of standing water and don’t attempt to drive through them.

    We also have a shot at thunderstorms during the day; fortunately, conditions are not expected to be favorable for severe weather. Some severe weather, including tornadoes, has been observed in Georgia, but that activity is not expected to be a factor into the Charleston area. If conditions change, you’ll see an update on @chswx with further explanation here. Try to stay dry tomorrow!

     

    • Jared Smith 12:06 am on December 15, 2009 Permalink

      Rain is taking hold throughout the Charleston metro — it will be with us for a day or so. Expect to hear some embedded rumbles of thunder, as well. Rainfall rates are heaviest further south into Beaufort and Jasper counties; locally heavy rainfall is possible through tonight and tomorrow morning. Given that an inch or two of rain overnight is not out of the question, flooding problems may start downtown well before high tide.

    • Jared Smith 12:35 am on December 15, 2009 Permalink

      Fully expecting to see at least a flood advisory go up for low-lying and poor drainage areas soon — rainfall has been steady over the past hour with decent RADAR-estimated rates of up to 8 tenths of an inch per hour in some spots, including West Ashley. The more impressive rainfall rates are south of here and offshore; seeing estimations near 2″ per hour on a line between Beaufort and Hilton Head Island.

  • Jared Smith 10:40 am on December 2, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: , Flooding, ,   

    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.

  • Jared Smith 12:18 pm on April 2, 2009 Permalink
    Tags: Flooding, heavy rainfall, severe potential   

    Flooding concerns this afternoon 

    A batch of steady rain with some pockets of heavy rainfall at times has been training over the Charleston metro much of the day. Typically, when we get steady rains like this, the primary focus is always on the downtown area and the flood threat. High tide is at 2:38 PM today, and with the rain expected to continue to hang around through tonight and into tomorrow, there could be some serious problems getting around the city this afternoon.

    First, some rainfall totals (since midnight) from various personal weather stations around the area:

    These totals will only continue to increase — I can see daily rainfalls of upwards of 3″ to possibly even 4″ in isolated spots before this is all said and done. This will make for some very treacherous driving in the area, especially downtown. TheDigitel has posted a Google map of flood zones in the area. If you know of one not on the list, feel free to add it — it’s wide open for community contributions.

    Please leave flood reports in comments or on Twitter using the hashtag #chswx. The Charleston Weather Twitter account will see those and retweet as needed.

     

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