Hurricane Isaias on track to affect SC. The latest on possible Midlands impact
Hurricane Isaias continues to work its way toward South Carolina and is expected to impact the Midlands area early next week, according to the National Weather Service.
NWS meteorologist John Quagliariello told The State Friday afternoon that current projections show the storm passing across eastern South Carolina offshore off the coastline late Sunday night and into Monday.
The hurricane is currently not projected do have a great impact on the Columbia area, but that could change, Quagliariello said.
“The current track, we would think impacts would be fairly minimal in the area,” Quagliariello said. “There might be some breezy conditions, some rainfall, but it doesn’t look like we’ll have significant rainfall where we’ll see any kind of flooding across the area. Maybe looking a little bit breezy.”
Wind speeds for Hurricane Isaias were 75 mph as of early Friday afternoon.
Meteorologists expect to have a better idea of any potential impact by Saturday morning.
“Depending on the track, though, the eastern part of the Midlands as you head out towards Sumter and Orangeburg, those areas might have some higher winds, and maybe a little bit more in the way of rainfall,” Quagliariello said. “But right now on the current track we’re not expecting significant impacts to the Midlands. But certainly something we’ll need to keep watching here over the next day or two.”
While current models do not have the storm having a large impact in the Columbia area, Midlands and S.C. are encouraged to continue to check forecast updates.
The S.C. Emergency Management Division is urging people to review their own safety plans and consider what they would need to do if the storm threatens the state. That includes making sure people have enough water and food to sustain themselves for three days, the division said in a news release Friday.
The current Columbia-area forecast for this weekend is calling for thunderstorms beginning Sunday night and continuing throughout Monday and into Tuesday morning. Monday’s chance of rain and storms is 80 percent.
This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 3:20 PM.
