Yes, the Midlands got a lot of rain this weekend, but more is coming. Here’s how much
With some parts of the area receiving as much as 5 inches of rain since Friday, an already-soggy Columbia could see more rain through the middle of the week before drying out by the weekend, forecasters say.
Storms have dumped 4 to 5 inches across Richland and Lexington counties since Friday, according to Frank Alsheimer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Columbia. Some of the heavier pockets have been in northeast Columbia and around Lake Carolina.
“Not everywhere has gotten that much, but that’s a pretty good general rule of thumb,” he said.
Sunday afternoon’s storms dumped 2.4 inches of rain at the Forest Acres Police Department, according to Richland County weather data. The Richland Library on Assembly Street registered 1.5 inches of rain Sunday and a gauge at the Lexington County administrative building registered 1.46 inches.
Monday will bring an 80 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms in Columbia, mainly after 2 p.m. and before 1 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service forecast.
The chance of rain drops to 20 percent Tuesday with a few scattered showers, Alsheimer said.
Another band of rain will move through the area Wednesday, bringing up to an inch in the Columbia area, Alsheimer said.
“The heaviest, right now, looks like it’ll fall to the east of the Columbia metro area,” he said. “Beyond that, we dry out for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.”
Because of the amount of rain recently, there is the possibility for local flooding, Alsheimer said. But forecasters do not anticipate widespread flash flooding.
A flood warning has been issued in Fairfield, Kershaw and Lancaster counties for the areas around Lake Wateree.
There was no word Monday on how the recent rainfall has affected the state’s drought status, but the S.C. Drought Response Committee will meet Thursday morning to evaluate the state’s drought status, according to a release from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
This story was originally published June 10, 2019 at 12:47 PM.