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.
We have one more quiet day of weather ahead for Christmas Eve before a storm system starts to affect the area on Christmas Day. It’ll be an unseasonably warm Christmas Eve, that’s for sure: We start the day in the upper 40s to around 50° before warming to around 70° in the afternoon. The normal high for December 24 is 61°, while the low is typically closer to 41°. No records will be threatened, though: the record high of 80° set in 2015 remains safe.
The sky will generally feature a mix of sun and clouds. There is a small possibility a few showers could try to sneak onshore, so if you’re out at the coast or very nearby, don’t be surprised to get a light shower or two as a coastal trough develops. However, much of us will remain rain-free throughout the day and overnight, so there are no significant concerns for a certain sleigh aviator as he makes his rounds in our neck of the woods.
A warming trend continues for Friday as we head into Christmas weekend. We’ll get off to a warmer start — though it’ll still be in the mid-to-upper 30s — than we did on Thursday, which dipped back into the upper 20s. Temperatures Friday afternoon should once again head to the low-to-mid-60s with a mix of sunshine and high cloud cover as high pressure continues to be the main weather feature at the surface and aloft.
We have another chilly day ahead Thursday as we’ll once again start the day below freezing, though perhaps not to the degree we saw across the area Wednesday morning, when Charleston International Airport dropped to 27°, the coldest temperature this year and the coldest it’s been since December 28, 2022.
A warming trend will commence Thursday as highs head to the upper 50s under partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies as ridging moves overhead. While you’ll still want a jacket, it might not need to be as heavy!
Generally quiet weather continues through the rest of the week as high pressure remains the prominent feature at the surface and aloft. A chilly night lies ahead Tuesday into Wednesday morning, with temperatures dipping into the 20s across much of the area away from the beaches and downwind from Lake Moultrie. Make sure plants are covered and pets are inside. Temperatures warm to the low 50s — a few degrees warmer than Tuesday’s high of 51° — with mostly sunny skies featuring some transient high clouds at times.
Thursday gets off to another sub-freezing start, but the warming trend becomes more pronounced as ridging aloft strengthens further. Expect highs on Thursday to top out around 60°, once again under partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies.
Friday will still get off to a chilly start in the mid-30s, though most of us should stay above freezing as the airmass continues to modify. Highs on Friday get to the low 60s under partly cloudy skies as mid- and high-level clouds continue to move by.
A cold front will swing through overnight, yielding a much chillier start on Tuesday as temperatures dip down to around freezing away from the coast and downtown. Breezy northwest-to-north winds will make it feel even colder, too, with morning wind chills dipping to the mid-20s across the area. Cold advection will continue throughout the day, and despite full sunshine, northerly winds will likely keep temperatures from heading above 50° in most locations.
After a record-breaking — historic is not hyperbole in this case, frankly — day of weather, we’ll turn back to more tranquil — and for a few days, quite cold — conditions as we head into the final shopping week before Christmas.
Monday will feature temperatures generally in the ballpark of normal, but a strong (but dry) cold front will clear the area late Monday into early Tuesday, shifting winds to the northwest and turning on the chill as high pressure builds in from the west. Expect to start Tuesday very near freezing in the metro area, and likely at or below freezing further inland. Despite sunny skies, strong cold advection should keep temperatures below 50° in the afternoon. (Brrr.) A solid freeze looks to set up for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, with lows in the 20s across much of the area as high pressure settles in overhead. Highs on Wednesday get to about 50-51° or so with a few clouds at most.
After another freeze Thursday morning, high pressure will slip offshore and temperatures will begin to recover into the upper 50s to low 60s to close out the week. We’ll keep an eye on Christmas weekend for our next storm system, but the usual model disagreements are sufficient enough where any confidence in any rain is pretty low.
A fairly lousy and potentially high-impact weather day lies ahead for Sunday as a strengthening nor’easter moves along the coast. Wind and rain will begin to pick up early Sunday morning, with gusts near 45 MPH at times (and potentially even higher on bridges and overpasses). Rainfall could turn out to be quite significant, especially within any thunderstorms that can fire; before it’s over, many of us could see 3-5″ of rain with even higher amounts in some spots. Flooding is increasingly a concern as a result, especially with the potential for an 8′ water level around the 11:17am high tide coinciding with continued heavy rain. Finally, if surface-based instability can develop, a severe thunderstorm or two with locally damaging wind gusts and maybe even a tornado could be possible. All this to say that Sunday’s a good “stay inside” day.
A nor’easter will make this second-to-last shopping weekend before Christmas a little tricky, with heavy rain, gusty winds, and coastal flooding all coming into play, especially on Sunday.
Well, first off, this is not going to be the best weekend of weather ever, especially as we get into Sunday as a now fairly well-discussed nor’easter heads up the coast. So, if you can get some time outside on Friday, do that. It’ll be a chilly start, with lows in the mid-30s and perhaps even a tick or two close to freezing further inland. Temperatures will then warm to around 60° under mostly sunny skies.
There will be a risk for minor coastal flooding with high tide around 9:28am. Water levels should peak just around 7′, and this should be enough to cause a few problems on Lockwood as well as around Fishburne and Hagood. Widespread issues are not expected, though.
