Charleston SC conditions thread

[cswitwer]

Thought I'd start a Charleston & SC Coastal area conditions thread.

The sun is almost up, light rain with light tropical wind gusts. We've already got saturated ground here, but they're predicting the storm conditions will pass by noon.

AlexiBlue and I are both online, as long as we have power! We're both near Hwy 61 as it crosses Charleston Harbor, about 7 miles inland from Folly Beach. Brag report-- saw TWC's Mike Seidel (sp?) at Folly Beach last night. TWC's got somebody on Isle of Palms also. Webcams of the beach are down all over the area, but you can see wave action on TWC as they report from here.

I'll be in touch--especially if/when we have conditions that merit mentioning today.

--chris

[Stormsfury]

Up in the Ladson area, light rain, BARELY any wind right now ...

There's a very sharp cut off with the wind field on the NW and W side ... and I'm beginning to really doubt there will be winds NO MORE than 20 mph in this locale ...

Radar and satellite trends already seem to indicate that the storm is slightly east of due south of CHS and only a last minute jump to the left puts the Charleston area in a precarious position ...

Oddly ... downtown Charleston reporting SE winds @ 22 mph, Charleston WFO (15 miles NW) - NE winds at 10 mph ...

[Stormsfury]

Correction: Just lost power due to a surge, but hardly any wind ... 2 minutes ago, just got a strong gust to 33 mph out of nowhere basically, and the winds are picking up a little bit (10-15 mph) ...

[Stormsfury]

Very strong winds now observed at Folly Beach ... Patrick Villegas on location down there is getting buffeted with some gusts I believe were in excess of 50 mph ...

SF

[cswitwer]

I'm posting photos I've taken of the area yesterday (and hopefully some today if the power doesn't go off) on my web site at http://www.cswitwer.com

[cswitwer]

Winds just kicked in more here, too. Not more than typical thunderstorm conditions so far, tho.

Localized flooding is starting here, especially on the penninsula. Tides are high.

We're getting weird booming noises off the water-- I think from the wind. I'm guessing that's to be expected.

[krisj]

Here in Mt. Pleasant the wind just picked up a bit. Nothing scary yet, but enough that the trees are bending more than I have ever seen them do. It has been raining all morning, but not sheets of rain, just a steady light rain.

[krisj]

Just heard thunder and the winds are now constantly higher.

[cswitwer]

TWC just said the edge of the eyewall may hit Mike Seidel on Folly. That's a LOT closer than I'd anticipated.

We're beginning to get sheeting rain now.

[krisj]

It sounds like a constant rumbling outside. Wind most definately picked up.

THey thought Folly was going to be missed. Seems like it changed at the last minute.

[krisj]

My neighbors big (taller than their 2 story house) tree just fell missing their house.
Wind is definately intense now.
Power went out for a minute too.

[Stormsfury]

This is a highly localized and lopsided hurricane ...

Back inland here in Dorchester County (Ladson/Summerville) we won't expect much in the way of wind now ... the western side of the hurricane (now looking more like a hybrid storm now), even the tropical storm force winds only extend out maybe 50 miles W ... the heaviest (and the hurricane force conditions) are on the SE and E sides of Charley ...

We're basically going to dodge a preverbial bullet, though ... the storm is only 35 NM SSE of Charleston, and a much more organized storm would have put Charleston in a much more precarious situation ...

SF

[Stormsfury]

Notice that Waterfront Park (Downtown Charleston OBS) and

Mt Pleasant Channel 2 Tower Cam ... conditions have gone ape ... blinding rains, winds between 40-70 mph and several power surges at the Channel 2 Studios ...

Code: Select all

CITY           SKY/WX    TMP DP  RH WIND       PRES   REMARKS
CHARLESTON     RAIN      72  70  94 NE20G28   29.86F FOG             
WATERFRONT PRK   N/A     73 N/A N/A NE37G51     N/A                   
BEAUFORT       PTSUNNY   72  69  90 N12       29.88S                 
HILTON HEAD IS PTSUNNY   73  70  88 NW14G35   29.86R                 
ORANGEBURG     CLOUDY    73  70  90 NE6       29.99S                 
COLUMBIA       CLOUDY    73  72  96 E5        30.01R FOG             
SUMTER         PTSUNNY   70  68  94 NE5       30.02S                 
FLORENCE       PTSUNNY   72  69  90 E6        30.03F                 
MYRTLE BEACH   LGT RAIN  75  70  83 SE23      30.04F FOG             
N MYRTLE BEACH LGT RAIN  77  72  84 S10       30.02F                 


[cswitwer]

Wind here in Charleston, on Folly Road, picking up a lot. Power keeps going off. Cable went out for a few minutes. Folly Beach getting a pretty good pounding right now. Sheets of rain, huge rain. Expecting at least some trees and power down, perhaps some structure damage out there.

[krisj]

They closed many bridges and all of them to high profile vehicles

[cswitwer]

Transformer just sparked huge just outside our building here on Folly Road near Hwy 17. Scaring the heck out of us. This is the second time it has done that. Our power keeps browning out. I'm on wireless laptop unplugged right now. All bridges in the Charleston, Folly, Isle of Palms, Sullivan's Island, Mt. Pleasant areas are closed to all traffic.

[cswitwer]

20,000 without power in Charleston, mostly around the coastal area. Here we're probably going to lose it soon. Transformers keep sparking - sounds like huge bombs going off.

[cswitwer]

Local met says the eyewall will come onshore in McClellanville, up to 64kts sustained winds.

Downtown Charleston not as bad, but north Charleston county be extremely cautious.

Everybody stay safe. If local TV goes out, they are simulcasting on Clearchannel radio channels.

[Stormsfury]

A very large tree down on Ft. Johnson Rd near Jerdone, and Mikell Drive ... Channel 5 reports also that their microwave tower in Awendaw, SC is down and was reported struck by lightning ...

SF

[cswitwer]

Looks like it's pretty much over here. Backwinds are already down.

Georgetown area and Myrtle Beach should be the areas to watch now.