Tropical Storm Debby: Flood Watch Expands West – WCCB Charlotte’s CW

As of the 11pm update from the National Hurricane Center, the center of Debby is moving onshore on the coast of South Carolina. Rain will continue spreading east to west across the WCCB Charlotte area through Thursday.

Local Alerts:

• Flood Watch in effect for the entire area (with the exception of Avery, Caldwell, Burke and Cleveland counties) through Friday evening.
• Flood Warning for the Pee Dee River at Cheraw

River Levels:

• Rocky River NC near Norwood has a flood stage of 20 ft. Right now, the river is 4.9 ft, but is forecast to reach major flood stage at 40.60′ on Friday. The record for this river is 46.4′
• There is a Flood Warning for the Pee Dee River at Cheraw. The flood stage is 30 ft, but is forecast to reach near major flood stage at 41.80′ on Sunday. The river currently sits at 10.49′.

Local Impacts From Debby:

• Timing: 2 am Thursday – 2 am Friday
• Rain: It is hard to say where the heaviest rain bands will set up, but my latest thoughts are: 2-4’’ west of I-77. 3-6’’ east of I-77 with isolated higher amounts possible.
• Wind: 25-35 mph gusts.
• Outages: Isolated.
• Tornado: This threat is closer to the coast.

PREVIOUS UPDATE 11AM 8/7

As of the 11am update from the National Hurricane Center, Debby has strengthened with winds up to 60mph and a slightly lower central pressure. It will begin to move toward the northwest in a few hours, making landfall over South Carolina between Charleston and Myrtle Beach tonight. Drier air wrapped into Debby as it sat off the coast, limiting rain bands earlier Wednesday, but expect rain to become more widespread through the evening. 

IMPACTS:

Wind: Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for the Georgia, South Carolina and SE North Carolina coast with a Tropical Storm Watch in effect for Surf City to Beaufort, NC. Tropical storm conditions are ongoing and will continue through Thursday for areas under the warning.

Storm Surge: Up to 2-4′ of storm surge will be possible for the Carolina coast.

Flooding: An additional 5-9″ with localized higher totals possible for the coast. A flood watch is in effect through Friday morning for the Carolinas.

Tornadoes: A few possible, mainly to the right of center of Debby.

Surf: Life threatening rip currents and dangerous surf will be possible through the weekend across the southeast.

Local Impacts:

Local impacts will begin overnight with the highest flood threat through Friday. A flood watch has been expanded to include all counties just west of I-77.

Rainfall Totals
Mountains: Up to 2″
Foothills to West of I-77: 2-4″
I-77/I-85 East: 4-6″, locally higher totals up to 8″ possible

Flooding: Rivers east of I-77 could flood even after the rain ends.
Rocky River near Norwood – Forecast to reach MAJOR Flood Stage Friday AM – 41.4′
Pee Dee River near Cheraw – Forecast to reach MODERATE Flood Stage Saturday AM – 41.9′ (42′ is major flood stage)

Wind: Increasing overnight w/ strongest gusts Thursday 30-40 mph.
It won’t take much to bring down trees if the ground is heavily saturated so isolated power outages will be possible.

PREVIOUS UPDATE 11PM 8/6

As of the 11pm update from the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Debby is now off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina. As Debby sits over very warm Atlantic waters, it is possible the storm will gain a bit of strength. Even if we see slight strengthening, this will not chance the impacts.

Local Alerts:
A Flood Watch is in effect for counties east of I-77 along with Chester and York counties. This is where we will see the highest rain totals and the greatest flood threat will be east of I-77.

Local Impacts:

Timing: We will see bands of rain roll into our area Wednesday, but not for everyone. Thursday and very early Friday will be our highest impact days. There are improvements in our weekend forecast!

Threats: Flooding is the main threat. Gusty winds are also possible. Downed trees and power outages will likely be scattered.

Rain Totals – Wednesday – Friday:

• Mountains: 1-3”
• Foothills: 2-4”
• Charlotte: 3-6”
• South and east of Charlotte: 7-11’+’

Wind: We could see wind gusts up to 35 mph on Thursday, but most of the time our wind gusts will stay around 20-25 mph.
Tornado: This threat is closer to the coast. For us it is not zero, but is very low.

Tornado: Not likely for our area.

Previous Update 11am 8/6

As of the 11am Update from the National Hurricane Center, Tropical Storm Debby is moving off the Georgia coast. It has weakened slightly, but it will strengthen over the warm waters of the Atlantic as it meanders off the southeast coast through Wednesday. It will move back inland Thursday morning, along the South Carolina coast and track through the central Carolinas Thursday and Friday before moving quickly into the Mid-Atlantic and toward New England this weekend.

IMPACTS:

Wind: Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect for the Georgia, South Carolina and SE North Carolina coast with a Tropical Storm Watch in effect for Surf City to Beaufort, NC. Tropical storm conditions are ongoing and will continue through Thursday for areas under the warning. Tropical storm conditions will begin for those under the watch Wednesday evening through Friday.

Storm Surge: Up to 2-4′ of storm surge will be possible for the Carolina coast.

Flooding: Rainfall totals 10-20″ with localized totals up to 25″ possible for the coast. Catastrophic flash flooding will be possible for Georgia and eastern South Carolina. A flood watch is in effect through Friday morning for the Carolinas.

Tornadoes: A few possible, mainly to the right of center of Debby. A tornado watch remains in effect until 5pm for the Carolina coasts.

Surf: Life threatening rip currents and dangerous surf will be possible through the weekend across the southeast.

LOCAL IMPACTS:

The outer bands will bring scattered showers and storms over the next 36 hours. The flooding threat will increase once Debby moves back inland Thursday. Widespread and steady rain will begin Thursday morning for the region with embedded heavy bands through Friday. The highest rainfall totals will set up east of I-77. This is also where some of the strongest gusts up to 30-40 mph will be possible Thursday afternoon through Friday. It won’t take much to bring down trees once the ground is saturated so there could also be issues with isolated to scattered power outages. Once Debby moves north and way from the region this weekend, conditions will improve, but river flooding could be a concern into early next week with the heaviest rain setting up in the Rocky and Pee Dee River basins.

Local Rainfall Potential Totals:

Mountains: Up to 2″

Foothills: 2-4″

Piedmont near the I-77/I-85 Corridor: 3-6″

South and East of I-77/I-85: 6-8″+

Previous Update 5am 8/6

Tropical Storm Debby is located inland, about 50 mph southwest of Savannah, GA and moving northeast at about 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph. It is expected to move off the coast of Georgia later today where it will stall as steering currents weaken. This will allow the storm to strengthen over the warmer waters of the Atlantic, leading to flooding and historic rain across the Carolina and Georgia coast. It will begin to move back inland Thursday morning and away from the Carolinas by Friday evening. 

IMPACTS

Tropical Storm Warnings in effect along the Georgia and South Carolina coasts. A Tropical Storm Watch has been extended north to Surf City, NC.

Wind: Current sustained winds are 45 mph, with some strengthening likely Wednesday and Thursday. Tropical storm force conditions expected for areas under the warning through Thursday night. Tropical storm conditions expected to begin Wednesday morning for the NC coast under the watch.

Storm Surge: 2-4 ft storm surge possible from Altamaha Sound, GA to Cape Fear, NC

Rainfall: 10-20″ with up to 25″ with catastrophic flooding in parts of Georgia and the Carolinas.

Tornadoes: A few possible for coastal South Carolina tonight through Wednesday.

Surf: Dangerous surf and life threatening rip current risk along the southeast coast through the end of the week

LOCAL IMPACTS

The outer rain bands of Debby are already reaching the southern edge of the region this morning. Expect showers through the day with scattered showers Wednesday as Debby sits off the coast. Rainfall totals locally will depend on the extent of the westward track of Debby as it moves inland Thursday. As of now, the highest rainfall totals will set up east of I-77/I-85 with the heaviest rain and highest flooding threat Thursday morning through Friday morning. Up to 25-30 mph gusts possible beginning Wednesday.

Mountains: Up to 2″

Foothills: 2-3″

Piedmont near I-77/I-85: 3-5″

Chesterfield/Lancaster/Richmond Co: 5″+

PREVIOUS UPDATE 10pm 8/5

Debby made landfall as a category 1 hurricane along Florida’s Big Bend early Monday morning – near Steinhatchee, Florida. Sadly, at least 4 people have died as a result from this system so far.

As of the 10 PM advisory on Monday, Tropical Storm Debby has maximum sustained wind of 45 mph and is crawling northeast at 7 mph.

Debby is expected to bring nearly 2 feet of rain to parts of Georgia and South Carolina. This will bring widespread flash flooding that will be catastrophic and life threatening.

Local Impacts From Debby:

There will be a sharp rain total gradient across the area. As of Monday afternoon, rain totals span from 1” in the mountains to nearly 10” in Chesterfield county. IF the storm stalls a bit more westward, the rain totals will shift west as well. This means higher totals for more of our area. IF the storm stalls a bit more eastward, it is possible our rain chances will be lower.

Timing: We will see bands roll into our area on Tuesday, but not for everyone. The main timeline is late Wednesday through Saturday. Thursday and Friday will be our highest impact days.

Threats: Flooding is the main threat. Gusty winds are also possible. The tornado threat will be low, but not zero. Downed trees and power outages are possible.

Rain Totals:

Now – Wednesday: 0-0.50” north of I-85. 1-3” in Chesterfield county. Anson and Richmond could also see upwards of 2”.
Wednesday – Saturday:
– Mountains: 0.5”-2”
– Foothills: 1-3”
– Charlotte: 2-5”
– Southeast of Charlotte: 5-10”

Wind: We could see wind gusts up to 35 mph on Thursday, but most of the time our wind gusts will stay around 20-25 mph.