Will the Carolinas feel impacts from what could be Tropical Storm Humberto?
A new tropical depression is expected to form Friday over the Bahamas and is forecast to track up the East Coast, similar to Hurricane Dorian’s path earlier this month, forecasters say.
If the system continues to grow as expected, Humberto will become the eighth named storm of the season. It’s forecast to strengthen over the weekend as it approaches Florida and then turn up the coast along Georgia and South Carolina early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The latest forecast cone includes much of South Carolina and North Carolina in the area of concern for early next week, but some wind and rain could begin impacting the South Carolina coast as soon as Sunday.
“Heavy rainfall and scattered flash flooding is possible this weekend in coastal sections of eastern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina,” the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. briefing Friday.
“Depending on the track of the system, heavy rainfall could reach eastern North Carolina next week,” the Hurricane Center said.
As of Friday morning, the system had maximum sustained winds of 30 mph, according to the Hurricane Center. An Air Force plane was headed out to the storm to get a closer look.
Mark Malsick, with the South Carolina Climate Office, said Friday morning that the weekend should be clear of any major impacts from the storm.
The storm’s track, as predicted by the National Hurricane Center, “has been nudged slightly east,” Malsick said. Newest predictions could put the storm 90 miles southeast of Charleston by Wednesday afternoon, with 60 mph winds.
The National Hurricane Center said Friday “the system is moving toward the northwest near 6 mph ... and this general motion is expected to continue with some increase in forward speed through the weekend.”
It will likely move across the Bahamas Friday and “along or over the east coast of Florida Saturday and Saturday night.”
According to the Friday morning briefing from the hurricane center, heavy rainfall is possible for Florida this weekend, but “there is greater uncertainty than usual in heavy rainfall prospects farther north across the Carolinas.”
This story was originally published September 13, 2019 at 8:28 AM.
