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Author: Jared Smith

Jared Smith founded @chswx on Twitter in 2008 as an experiment in disseminating weather data through social media. In the ensuing decade-and-a-half, @chswx has provided live coverage of tropical cyclones, tornadoes, severe weather, and even a couple bouts of winter weather to the good people of Charleston, SC.

Rest of the work week: A quick cold shot indicates what’s to come this weekend

/ January 15, 2024 at 8:24 PM

Temperatures will be somewhat fickle this week as a series of fronts move through the area. Tuesday will trend on the warm side, with lows around 50° to start the day heading into the low 60s in the afternoon as the first front moves by. A few showers will be possible along and ahead of the front, primarily midday through early evening. They won’t have much moisture to wring out, so expect the showers to be on the light side. From there, temperatures will plummet overnight.

We will most definitely know that a front has come through Wednesday morning. We’ll wake up to subfreezing temperatures across much of the area away from the immediate coast; breezy northwesterly winds will make it feel closer to the low 20s. The ongoing cold advection will prevent temperatures from reaching too far into the upper 40s in the afternoon despite mostly sunny skies.

Thursday gets off to a similarly chilly start (though with less wind, at least) as lows once again head toward around 30° (and likely colder further inland and in rural areas). However, the coldest air will be departing during the day, and temperatures head to around normal in the afternoon, generally running around 60°. The respite from the very cold air continues Friday. We’ll wake up in the low 40s and top out in the upper 50s to around 60° with a few morning showers possible as another front moves by, which brings the coldest air thus far this season into the area for the weekend.

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MLK Day: Generally quiet, maybe a shower or two late

/ January 14, 2024 at 9:45 PM

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day will be a generally quiet day of weather, with just a few showers potentially developing late. We start the day in the upper 30s, warming to the mid-60s (and maybe beyond) in the afternoon despite increasing cloud cover. Dry conditions should persist through sunset; thereafter, a few showers could move into the area as a front approaches. Overall, though, outdoor activities look to be generally okay and rain-free.

Slight shower chances persist as we head into Tuesday. Another front will then send some very cold air our direction. We’re going to feel it big-time on Wednesday as we wake up to air temperatures around freezing, but the westerly wind around 10 MPH will make it feel much colder (think low 20s). Strong cold advection will keep temperatures limited to the upper 40s in the afternoon. After a freezing start Thursday morning, temperatures recover to near 60° in the afternoon under partly cloudy skies. Another front swings through Friday, and that’ll usher in another round of even colder air over the weekend. Pipe-busting lows in the 20s could be quite common, particularly Sunday morning, with highs topping out just in the low 40s. Stay tuned to forecast updates this week as more data comes in.

Weekend forecast: Back to quiet

/ January 12, 2024 at 8:16 PM

Quieter weather returns to the area for the weekend, and not a moment too soon. We start Saturday in the mid-40s, but a breezy westerly wind will keep temperatures suppressed to the mid-50s despite partly cloudy skies as cool air blows in behind a cold front. Cloud cover decreases overnight and winds calm down, allowing for decent radiational cooling conditions for Sunday morning, when temperatures look to fall back to the mid-30s (and maybe near freezing in more rural areas). It’ll be a brilliantly sunny day, and temperatures will respond nicely, heading into the low 60s in the afternoon. Quiet weather should prevail for much of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, too, with only a few showers possible after sunset; the better risk for rain arrives Tuesday.

Friday: Turning breezy with showers and storms in the afternoon and evening; cooling off for the weekend

/ January 11, 2024 at 6:35 PM

Another storm system will impact the area on Friday with gusty winds and some showers and storms in the afternoon and evening hours, with a few pockets of severe weather possible, but certainly not the widespread threat that we saw on Tuesday.

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Thursday: A quiet day with a bit of a chill ahead of another round of storms on Friday

/ January 10, 2024 at 7:46 PM

High pressure will be in control for one more day on Thursday. We’ll start the day a little cooler than we did on Wednesday, and certainly much less windy, too. However, a light breeze will still make lows in the mid-30s feel closer to freezing. Temperatures will head to the upper 50s in the afternoon under a mix of sun and cloud cover.

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Rest of the work week: A couple days of quiet, then a stormy Friday

/ January 9, 2024 at 8:21 PM

After a day of weather that went more or less as advertised, we get a couple days to dry out before another round of showers and thunderstorms — and maybe some more severe weather — arrives on Friday.

We will stay breezy Wednesday, particularly in the morning, as cooler and drier air blows into the area behind a cold front. We start the day in the low 40s and warm to the mid-50s in the afternoon. A few clouds will be around, but overall it’ll be much sunnier than Tuesday. (Not hard to do!)

Thursday will feature calmer winds and a chillier start. We’ll begin the day in the mid-30s before warming to the low 60s in the afternoon under partly cloudy skies. It should be a fairly quiet, nice day of weather overall.

The quiet doesn’t last, though, as another storm system affects the area on Friday. While it won’t be as windy of a system as Tuesday’s was, it will still bring with it a fairly well-sheared environment which, if paired with enough instability, could yield another round of severe weather. The Storm Prediction Center has the area outlined in a 15% severe weather risk in the Day 4 outlook; we’ll see how this evolves as the rest of the week wears on. For now, though, don’t let the weather radio stray too far…we might need it again later this week.

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Tuesday: Multiple weather hazards expected with an abnormally strong storm system

/ January 8, 2024 at 6:38 PM

An unusually potent storm system will affect the area on Tuesday, bringing strong, gusty non-thunderstorm winds, some tidal flooding in the morning, and a squall line in the afternoon and early evening that could bring a swath of damaging winds and maybe a few tornadoes on its leading edge.

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The week ahead: All eyes on Tuesday’s severe potential

/ January 7, 2024 at 5:43 PM

The active weather pattern we’ve found ourselves in for the start of the year continues this week as we’ll see at least two storm systems visit the area, with quiet and generally cool weather days interspersed between them.

Monday will feature increasing clouds and a steady east to northeast breeze as high pressure wedges southward. We start the day in the mid-30s and warm to around 60° in the afternoon with clouds steadily increasing ahead of Tuesday’s storm system. Late Monday, a warm front will lift north of the area, which may bring some scattered showers along with it, but we should get much of the daylight hours, if not all of them, in rain-free.

more on Tuesday’s severe potential and beyond

Sunday’s forecast: Partly cloudy and breezy

/ January 6, 2024 at 9:56 PM

After a rather warm Saturday — the warmest day of the young year so far with a high of 75° — temperatures return to normal on Sunday as cooler and drier air blows in behind a cold front. We start the day in the mid-40s, but the ongoing cool air advection will hold highs to around 60° in the afternoon despite partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies. It’ll be another breezy day; expect winds generally 10-15 MPH out of the west with gusts approaching 25-30 MPH once again.

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Weekend forecast: Rainy Saturday morning yields to a quiet evening and Sunday

/ January 5, 2024 at 9:41 PM

We’ll likely be waking up to rain Saturday morning as a storm system moves through the area. Rain could be heavy at times, with a half-inch to an inch of rain possible in many spots. It’ll be windy, too: gusts to 30-35 MPH will be possible, so batten down the hatches if you have rain-or-shine outdoor events. The bulk of the rain should exit by early afternoon, though guidance does suggest some wrap-around moisture may keep a few showers around through early evening. From there, we should dry out. Temperatures during the day will be as warm as they’ve been so far in the small sample size of 2024: expect lows in the mid-40s to yield to highs near 70° in the afternoon as warm air advects into the area.

Sunday will be a quieter weather day, with cooler and somewhat drier air working into the area in the wake of Saturday’s storm system. Expect to start the day in the mid-40s with breezy westerly winds keeping highs capped to around 60° in the afternoon under a mix of sun and clouds.

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