Storm nearing SC expected to become hurricane, drop as much as a foot of rain
A storm forecasted to become Hurricane Imelda is expected to dump six to 12 inches of rain on the eastern part of the state, the National Weather Service said.
The tropical depression that was north of Cuba on Saturday is expected to eventually turn into Hurricane Imelda early next week as it moves north toward the South Carolina coast. But the National Hurricane Center is forecasting the storm will turn to the east as it interacts with Hurricane Humberto, another storm off the East Coast. Imelda then is expected to turn out to sea.
Gov. Henry McMaster, who on Friday declared a state of emergency in preparation of the storm, cautioned the forecast track could change as the storm approaches South Carolina.
“Some of us can remember the days that we had none of these sophisticated instruments to help us predict these things, but they helped a lot, but they’re still not 100% accurate,” McMaster told reporters during a Saturday briefing at the state’s Emergency Operations Center.
“This one does not look as strong as it looked yesterday, that could change tonight, tomorrow [and] could be much stronger, could change direction,” McMaster added.
The storm is expected to dump six to 12 inches of rain on the eastern part of the state. Amounts could be higher locally and lead to flooding, said John Quagliariello, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service. McMaster even said flooding is possible in the Midlands.
Rains from the storm will come on Monday and continue into Tuesday. If the storm stalls, the impacts would stretch into the latter parts of the week. The brunt of the impacts associated with the storm is expected to last from Monday night into Tuesday.
“We are more confident the storm will produce impacts along the coast, including significant beach erosion, high surf and dangerous rip currents. Storm surge flooding is also a concern, especially for vulnerable, low-lying coastal locations, even if landfall does not occur,” Quagliariello said.
The severity of the winds felt in the state will depend on the track of the storm. But tropical storm force winds and possibly hurricane force winds are possible.
A briefing issued by the National Weather Service late Saturday afternoon said that “forecast confidence in strong winds continues to be lower for the Midlands,” with only low chances that they will threaten the area.
That briefing noted that the highest rainfall amounts are expected in eastern South Carolina and Georgia. According to weather maps included in the briefing, there is some potential for localized flooding rain on Monday night into Tuesday night in the Midlands.
“How close it gets is still to be determined, and that’s going to determine the impact, certainly,” Quagliariello said of the storm. “But we do expect it to slow or stall near the South Carolina coast and then turn east into the Atlantic away from the United States.”
With the flooding threats, McMaster repeated long standing advice of not traveling through flood waters.
“Don’t drive through standing water,” McMaster said. “Even if the winds are not strong, that water is always going to be deeper than you think, and we lose a lot of people to drowning.”
As state officials encouraged people to prepare for the storm, that reminder comes one year after Hurricane Helene struck South Carolina, causing the most damage in the Upstate.
“It did not go where it was expected to go,” McMaster told reporters Saturday.
This is a developing story.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM.
