Charleston Weather » Flooding

The severe weather threat so far has yet…

Jared Smith — Mon, 03 May 2010 23:18:48 +0000

The severe weather threat so far has yet to really materialize. Some strong storms flared earlier in the day, bringing some persistent heavy rain (at times dumping near a half-inch per hour according to radar estimations) across Colleton County into portions of Dorchester County. The storms have been on a weakening trend, though, as the expected instability has not yet yielded any major weather. RADAR indicates some storms packing heavy rain in Georgia, gradually moving NE, but the tornado threat has thankfully not borne itself out. As the sun goes down, so goes the threat for severe thunderstorms. After sunset, we’ll turn our attention to a swath of persistent heavy rain that has slowly been making its way across the Midlands. It will arrive overnight and stick with us through a lot of Tuesday. Thankfully, it’s been dry, which would mitigate any severe flooding, though we can’t rule out troubles downtown tomorrow morning.

Tough commute possible this afternoon

Jared Smith — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:41:50 +0000

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.

Rain, potential flooding Tuesday morning

Jared Smith — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:40:23 +0000

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!

As messy as advertised, with the brunt yet to come

Jared Smith — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:40:04 +0000

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.

Flooding concerns this afternoon

Jared Smith — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 17:18:01 +0000

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:

College of Charleston Observatory: 2.22″
Camp David, Mt. Pleasant: 1.78″
Carolina Bay, West Ashley: 2.51″
Goose Creek: 2.13″
Summerville: 2.03″

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.