Storms with occasionally heavy rain are trekking across the area this morning. Those will move aside by midday, allowing for a bit of clearing and heating to occur, which could fuel additional thunderstorm activity through this evening. High tide at Charleston Harbor is at 6:48 PM, so any heavy thunderstorms along the coast this evening might also cause some flooding trouble downtown.

Here’s what the Storm Prediction Center has to say:

…CAROLINAS…
AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE HAS RETURNED TO PARTS OF SC/NC TODAY WITH
DEWPOINTS IN THE MID 60S. WATER VAPOR LOOPS SUGGEST RAPID MID LEVEL
DRYING WILL OVERSPREAD THIS REGION TODAY…BRINGING STRONG HEATING
AND VEERING LOW LEVEL WINDS. SEVERAL MODEL SOLUTIONS SUGGEST THE
POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON
OVER EASTERN SC/NC…WITH STORMS TRACKING NORTHEASTWARD TOWARD THE
COAST AFTER DARK. IF THIS SCENARIO OCCURS…THERE WOULD BE A RISK
OF HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS IN THE STRONGEST CELLS.

And from NWS Charleston:

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS…A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WITH A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES…
WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD TODAY. THE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER
IS EXPECTED TO SHIFT INTO SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE EASTERN
CAROLINAS TODAY AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. WHILE ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE
THROUGH LATE MORNING…THE BETTER CHANCES FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL
BE FROM AROUND MIDDAY INTO THIS EVENING ACROSS THE REGION. IN
ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL OF 1 INCH OR GREATER AND DAMAGING WIND
GUSTS…THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES.

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Of course, the most reliable source of weather information and warnings is a NOAA Weather Radio. You can pick these up at most grocery stores, RadioShack, etc. Ensure that your alarm is set to the “on” position so you can be immediately alerted to any severe thunderstorm or tornado warnings that may be issued.

Storm totals as of 5:30 -- the red is right around my complex, indicating 3-4+ inches of rain.

Upon arriving home the rain continued to beat down, and I noticed that the water had completely escaped the banks of the ditches and, in some cases, was flowing into streets and flooding the parking lots. The complex is close to marsh, and thus a bit more susceptible to flooding than you might think outside of downtown. It takes a pretty decent rainfall for this to happen, and that was definitely in place, as the RADAR-estimated storm rainfall total map illustrates. Here’s a slideshow of the aftermath:

Also check out a shot from Sullivan’s Island by WCBD’s Brendan Clark.