Daniel Prince
Impacts on our area should be less, though we still could see 2-4 inches of rain and strong wind gusts
The center of Hurricane Ian was 145 miles SSE of Charleston as of 5 a.m. this morning. It was continuing to move to the NNE, but it is expected to turn to the north soon and then to the NNW after making landfall. Landfall is expected near Georgetown now, as the continued more eastern track of the storm pushes landfall further north. Ian will cross the eastern part of the state as a tropical storm during the day, and by Saturday afternoon, it will have crossed central NC almost to Virginia.
With the track of the storm farther to the east, impacts to our area will be less than originally forecast; however, we still expect to experience strong wind gusts and heavy rain at times. According to the latest projections, we can expect between 2-4 inches of rain, with the latest forecast trending toward the lower part of that estimate. The heaviest rains are expected this afternoon and into the early evening hours. Rain will be likely across our area from 10 a.m. through 2 a.m. Saturday. Wind gusts up to around 38 mph are possible, with the strongest winds between 1-7 p.m. Temperatures will remain cool for us today, with a high of around 60. Any severe weather looks to stay east of us, with the greatest threat to the northeast coast of South Carolina, the eastern part of North Carolina, and southeast Virginia. With the strong wind gusts and rain, there is the potential for downed limbs or trees and power lines, so be prepared for potential power outages.
The forecast begins to clear for the weekend, with a 40% chance of scattered showers Saturday, a slight chance Saturday night, and a 30% chance on Sunday and Sunday night. Temperatures will remain in the 60s through the weekend and on into Monday.