Heavy rain forecast for the Midlands as tropical disturbance creeps close to SC
A tropical disturbance is forecast to move up the South Carolina coast this week, with the slight chance of developing into powerful storm or hurricane.
Severe hurricane effects are not predicted to impact the Midlands, but heavy rains are expected in the area, according to the National Weather Service office in Columbia.
“There is a low chance that it turns into a tropical storm or hurricane,” meteorologist Tenia Morrison told The State Tuesday.
The National Hurricane Center put those chances at 20 percent.
Even if the disturbance never develops into a named storm, or if it’s path takes it back into the ocean, it’s expected to affect the Columbia area.
Excessive rainfall will be possible Wednesday into Thursday, according to the hazardous weather outlook.
That means the threat of flooding continues, especially in the eastern Midlands where the impact is expected to be most powerful, Morrison said. Flood warnings are already issued in Richland and Lexington counties, and future flash flood warnings are possible.
Even after the disturbance moves away, precipitation is still forecast for the Columbia area through the weekend. There is at least a 60 percent chance of rain through Saturday, with a 90 percent likelihood Wednesday.
Thunderstorms are also possible, with an 80 percent chance on Friday, according to the weather service.
It continues a wet trend in Columbia, which tied a record Monday for the most consecutive days of rain in May, after precipitation was recorded for the eighth consecutive day at Columbia Metropolitan Airport.
If the forecast holds up, the all-time record for most consecutive days of rain — 13, set in September 1924 — would be matched.
A cold front moving through the Midlands on Sunday is expected to bring dry weather back, Morrison said.
The greatest threat caused by the disturbance will be along the South Carolina coast, where gusty winds could produce rough conditions and life-threatening surf and rip currents through Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
