New threat possible as Tropical Storm Elsa moves closer to Midlands. What to expect
As Tropical Storm Elsa moves toward the Southeast U.S., forecasters are confident the storm’s track will bring it through South Carolina and the Midlands.
On Tuesday morning, a tropical storm watch was issued for a portion of the coast of South Carolina and the Lowcountry, including Charleston, Colleton, Beaufort, Jasper, and Berkeley counties, according to the state Emergency Management Division.
No warnings or watches have been issued for the Midlands, where the effects of the tropical storm are not expected to be as severe. But both, and other advisories, are possible for the Columbia area, according to the National Weather Service.
Both heavy rain and flooding are threats to the Columbia area, the National Weather Service said in a Tuesday morning briefing.
“The biggest impact for the Midlands is the heavy rain potential,” National Weather Service Meteorologist Chris Rohrbach told The State.
Excessive rainfall could begin on Wednesday night, and 2-4 inches of rain are possible in the Midlands, according to the briefing. Higher amounts of rainfall are possible in certain areas affected by storms.
The storm is expected to continue moving across the Midlands into late Thursday, before moving out of the area by night, Rohrbach said.
The water levels on area rivers and streams are expected to significantly rise, the National Weather Service said.
Rohrbach said it’s still too early to tell if there will be issues with river flooding, and that will be determined by where the storm causes the most rainfall. But the amount of rain in the forecast has caused concern about the potential of flash flooding, especially in urban and low-lying areas, Rohrbach said.
Earlier forecasts listed stronger-than-normal winds as one of the main concerns as Elsa’s effects hit the Midlands. While the potential for damaging winds and isolated tornadoes remains, the likelihood of threats caused by breezy conditions has been reduced, according to the briefing.
The eastern portion of the Midlands is at greatest risk of seeing the possibilities of tornadoes, which would most likely occur between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, the National Weather Service said. Gusts as powerful as 25 mph are possible, according to Rohrbach.
Powerful winds could cause considerable damage to trees and branches, which creates the possibility of downed power lines and outages.
Tropical storm conditions are possible in parts of South Carolina that are in Elsa’s cone, but it might be a tropical depression by that time, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As of late Tuesday morning, the tropical storm had maximum sustained winds of 60 mph, with higher gusts recorded, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was about 215 miles south of Tampa, Florida, but was moving northwest at about a 10 mph clip. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 70 miles from the center, the National Hurricane Center said.
Elsa, which was previously classified as a hurricane, could regain that designation as it strengthens before making landfall in Florida on Tuesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm is expected to weaken as it moves inland.
Although Elsa is forecast to move out of the Columbia area Thursday night, showers will continue in the storm’s wake. There’s an 80% chance of precipitation Thursday, and more rain is possible through Monday, the forecast shows.
More heat is expected with the wet conditions. Temperatures are forecast to be in the 80s on Wednesday and Thursday before climbing back into the 90s through the rest of the week.
While Elsa’s track can shift after making landfall, Rohrbach said the National Hurricane Center has done a good job of predicting the storm thus far, and he does not expect anything major to change out of what is currently forecast.
“Keep track of the weather forecast,” Rohrbach said.
Elsa could be the second named storm of the 2021 hurricane season to impact the Palmetto State. At the end of June, Tropical Storm Danny rumbled through South Carolina.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 12:19 PM.
