Idalia is back to being a tropical storm this evening. As of the 5PM fix from the National Hurricane Center, Idalia was centered about 40 miles west of Savannah (or 115 miles WSW of Charleston) and was moving northeast at 21 MPH. Maximum sustained winds were at 70 MPH and continuing to fall. Tropical Storm Warnings continue, a Tornado Watch remains in effect until 10PM, and a Flood Watch continues until 2AM. The Hurricane Watch was dropped at 5PM after Idalia was downgraded.

Idalia has been a pain so far today in the Lowcountry, with numerous tornado warnings (and some possible touchdowns, including a car getting tossed in Goose Creek) and very heavy rain in spots. Radar is generally estimating about 1-3″ so far, with some more to fall as rain bands continue to move through. The heaviest rain still looks to be positioned to move up through the Midlands, but may scrape parts of far inland Dorchester and Berkeley counties.

Closer to the coast, we will be dealing with increasingly gusty winds — gusts to tropical storm force appear likely across the barrier islands into downtown and Mt. Pleasant — as well as significant coastal flooding punctuated by a forecast 8.7′ high tide which would rank among the top ten on record. The water level in the harbor as of about 5:45 PM was already up to 6.06′, which is a departure of a little over 1 and ½ feet. High tide is expected to peak around 8:30. Numerous road closures are expected; in fact, around this time it’s probably best to just be where you’re going to be. Any heavy rain bands that develop and move over will exacerbate flooding, perhaps making for a widespread problem downtown and on barrier islands.

After 2-3am, we should start to see improvement, though gusty winds and maybe some showers will persist into Thursday. For now, though, keep phones charged and weather radios on standby in case you lose power. Be safe — we’ll be done with Idalia before you know it.