Impacts from Tropical Storm Isaias are becoming more likely in the Charleston metro area starting tomorrow morning, and additional watches and warnings are now in effect.

Early this morning, the National Hurricane Center upgraded the Tropical Storm Watch to a Tropical Storm Warning across the Tri-County area. A Storm Surge Watch is now in effect for coastal Charleston County, as well. The National Weather Service in Charleston hoisted a Flash Flood Watch for the Tri-County, which goes into effect tomorrow at 8am.

As of 5 PM, a Tropical Storm Watch is now in effect for the Charleston Tri-County area. This means that tropical storm conditions — winds 39-73 MPH, heavy, flooding rainfall, storm surge, and isolated tornadoes — will be possible within the watch area within the next 48 hours. This is your signal that preparation should be underway for the potential for wind damage, power outages, and flooding from Isaias as we head into Monday and Monday night.

At 8am, Isaias — not the most picturesque hurricane one has ever seen, but a hurricane nonetheless — was making its move on Andros Island in the Bahamas. The storm has been struggling with westerly shear and dry air intrusion, which will keep its intensity capped for now. Today is a pivotal day in the evolution of the storm’s track for the next few days, and we’ll all want to keep an eye on it as we begin to prepare for its arrival Monday.

It’s not the most picturesque hurricane on record, but it will do: Hurricane Isaias, which was upgraded after Hurricane Hunters found winds near 80 MPH last night, is now churning through the Bahamas this morning. Isaias remains a Category 1 storm as of this morning with 80 MPH winds, and is moving NW at 17 MPH. It is expected to strengthen to a Category 2 storm with max winds of 100 MPH before weakening as it curves up the US coast this weekend.

Tropical Storm Isaias was named with the 11PM advisory last night, and it has brought flooding rain to Puerto Rico over the last couple days as it moved nearby and through Hispaniola. This evening, the center of the storm is reforming on the north side of Hispaniola. There was some speculation that the mountainous terrain of the island would potentially seriously disrupt the storm, but this appears to be a case where that didn’t happen. At 8PM this evening, the storm maintained 60 MPH max sustained winds with the minimum central pressure down to 999 millibars.

Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine — which may become Tropical Storm Isaias later today — continues to churn into the Caribbean this morning. Its satellite presentation has improved over the last couple days, and is beginning to show signs that it might be finally getting its act together enough to become a tropical cyclone. It’s bringing heavy rain to the Leeward Islands and will spread its effects into Puerto Rico later today.

We continue our midsummer heat, humidity, and thunderstorm chances as we close out July and head into August. Temperatures will continue to run in the low 90s each day; heat indices will top out in the low to mid-100s in the afternoons before the onset of thunderstorms. After more isolated coverage on Monday, expect an uptick for much of the rest of the week with a little upper-level support getting in on the action. Some of you who have been on the “miss” side of the “hit-or-miss” thunderstorms these past few days will have plenty of chances to get a free lawn watering in the upcoming week!

Stop me if you’ve heard it: We’ll see highs in the 90s, heat indices in the 100s, and a chance of thunderstorms pretty much every afternoon along and inland of the seabreeze. We might see a little uptick in shower and storm activity as we head toward the weekend as models suggest a little mid-level energy trying to work its way in, but we’ll keep an eye on this trend. Stay cool and masked up!

We will find ourselves firmly in a slightly unsettled summertime pattern for much of the week. Highs will top out in the low to mid-90s each day, with heat indices in the low to mid-100s in the afternoons. Showers and thunderstorms will be possible each day. It won’t rain all the time, and you probably won’t see rain every day, either. Mind the heat — take frequent breaks in the afternoon, get plenty of fluids, and seek out air conditioning when you can. Don’t forget to wear a mask!

We’ve got a soggy, stormy start to the week in store as a low pressure system moves through the Gulf Coast states and strafes our coastline. We’re already starting to see some shower activity from this storm system this evening, and more is expected through at least Wednesday night, if not beyond.