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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.

The week ahead: Aside from a mid-week front, quiet weather expected

/ November 27, 2022 at 9:13 PM

Aside from some showers on Wednesday as a cold front moves through, this week looks pretty good weather-wise, offering up more in the way of sunshine than we’ve seen in the past couple weeks.

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Sunday: Starting out unsettled, drying by evening

/ November 26, 2022 at 7:49 PM

A storm system will approach the area overnight into Sunday, bringing another round of rain chances to the area primarily tomorrow morning into early afternoon.

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Weekend forecast: Sunny Saturday, stormy start to Sunday

/ November 25, 2022 at 9:13 PM

We get a good break from the gray skies on Saturday as we find ourselves between storm systems. The lull will bring us a nice, seasonable day, with lows in the mid-40s followed by highs in the mid-to-upper 60s, right in the ballpark for where we should be at this point in the year. The only fly in the ointment will be the risk for minor to moderate salt water flooding around the 9:29am high tide.

Clouds build back up Saturday evening as the next storm system makes its approach to give us another round of rain for Sunday. A warm front will lift north across the area throughout the day, allowing temperatures to top out in the mid-70s despite showers and maybe a thunderstorm or two in the area. The best chance for rain will be in the morning through the early afternoon hours. Expect the front to get through by evening, which will shut off the rain and dry out the air. Winds will be a little breezy with sustained winds approaching 20 MPH with higher gusts.

Sunday will mark the end of this king tide cycle, with minor flooding possible with the 10:28am high tide. A few downpours will be possible with the storm system moving by on Sunday, and we’ll want to watch for any to coincide with the mid-morning high tide.

Improving weather returns to start the new work week; the next shower chance will be mid-week, followed by seasonable temperatures to start December.

Friday & the weekend: A sunshine sandwich

/ November 24, 2022 at 9:54 PM

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Day! The next few days will be a “sunshine sandwich” — overcast and rain, followed by mostly sunny skies, followed by another round of overcast and rain. We will also continue to contend with coastal flooding with the morning high tides through Sunday.

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A few showers for Thanksgiving, with more in store this weekend

/ November 23, 2022 at 5:49 PM

We have a relatively mild Thanksgiving Day ahead as temperatures start in the mid-50s, about 10° above normal for this point in the year. Pesky cloud cover will remain pesky with the coastal trough lingering offshore, and a few showers will be possible before rain chances increase further after sunset as more moisture makes its way ashore. Overall, don’t be surprised to dodge a shower or two, but I suspect that a lot of us get a majority of Thanksgiving in rain-free.

Friday & the weekend: Periods of showers with a nice day in the middle

Shower chances will peak on Friday as a warm front moves by followed by a cold front moving in from the north overnight. Lows will approach 15° above normal with cloud cover and a moist airmass in place. The warm front will help temperatures reach the low 70s in the afternoon despite shower activity that’s expected to be in the area. (A thunderstorm can’t be ruled out, either.) These showers will work their way out of here overnight with the aforementioned cold frontal passage.

Saturday should remain mostly dry with a mix of clouds and sun remaining in place. Temperatures will once again bottom out around 10°+ degrees above normal for another mild start followed by highs running right around 70° in the afternoon.

Showers return to the forecast Sunday as another cold front moves by the area. Once again, highs in the low 70s will follow a seasonably mild start to the day in the mid-50s. We should see showers begin to decrease later in the afternoon, paving the way for a cooler, drier, and sunnier Monday.

Coastal flooding remains a concern with morning high tides

This morning’s high tide peaked around 7.02′, which scraped minor coastal flooding thresholds. Expect additional rounds of minor to moderate salt water flooding around times of the morning’s high tide through Thanksgiving and the long weekend. High tide on Thanksgiving morning is forecast to peak around 7.5′, or moderate flood stage, around 7:43am. We should see similar results from Friday morning’s high tide which is predicted to peak around 8:34am. Minor coastal flooding is forecast for Saturday morning’s 9:29am high tide, while guidance indicates another round of flooding will be possible for Sunday morning’s 10:28am high tide. Stay tuned for Coastal Flood Advisories from the National Weather Service.


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Mild and turning unsettled as the holidays begin

/ November 22, 2022 at 8:01 PM

Temperatures will continue on a warming trend as we head through Thanksgiving into the weekend. We’ll see periods of unsettled weather, too, but nothing too heinous to write home about.

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A few showers possible Tuesday

/ November 21, 2022 at 7:31 PM

Cloud cover moving over the area tonight will make for a much warmer start to Tuesday than we saw on Monday, with lows only dipping into the mid to upper 40s. Wakeups will trend even warmer as we get into the rest of the week, with lows in the 50s becoming commonplace through the weekend.

Keep an eye out for a few showers during the day on Tuesday as a coastal trough develops. Otherwise, expect temperatures to top out in the low 60s under mostly cloudy skies.

There will be a risk for a little salt water encroaching on roads around Gadsden Creek (Hagood/Fishburne/Lockwood) around the 6:10am high tide, but more significant flooding is not expected as water levels are expected to peak just shy of the 7′ coastal flooding threshold in Charleston Harbor.

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The week ahead: More seasonable temperatures for Thanksgiving week with a few showers at times

/ November 20, 2022 at 9:36 PM

If you weren’t a huge fan of the winter-like chill that shaped the past week’s weather, here comes a somewhat more seasonable feel to the air for Thanksgiving week. (We’ll also have some showers and some tidal flooding to come along for the ride.)

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Weekend forecast: Chilly with increasing cloud cover

/ November 18, 2022 at 5:52 PM

We have another chilly night in store across the metro area, as another round of frosty conditions may be possible tomorrow morning with temperatures reaching freezing in a few more sheltered and rural areas. Once again, bring pets and plants in to keep them safe from the cold.

We’ll see increasing cloud cover on Saturday as high and mid-level clouds filter into the area, but we should remain rain-free as temperatures struggle to 60° in the afternoon (we reached 59° on Friday with full sunshine, FWIW). A front will get by Saturday night into early Sunday; while we’ll start Sunday in the mid-40s — roughly 11° higher than forecast for Saturday morning — highs will once again struggle back to the mid-50s with cloud cover and cool advection ongoing.

Aside from maybe a sprinkle or two Saturday evening, the weekend looks rain-free. We keep this rain-free weather going until late Tuesday into early Wednesday, with a slight shower chance on Thanksgiving. Temperatures next week will warm back into the low-to-mid-60s, still a few clicks below normal for this point in the year.

Friday & the weekend: Chilly, with frost and freeze possible at times

/ November 17, 2022 at 5:40 PM
National Weather Service forecast for Friday and the weekend (November 18-20, 2022).

Friday: Mostly sunny. Low 34, high 57. Frost advisory Charleston and tidal Berkeley, Freeze Warning inland Berkeley and Dorchester.

Saturday: Mix of clouds and sun. Low 35, high 59.

Sunday: Mostly cloudy. Low 44, high 54.

We’ve got another chilly weekend ahead, and this time some frosty conditions are expected. Skies will clear tonight, and with light to calm winds expected, solid radiational cooling conditions are probable, allowing temperatures to fall into the mid-30s across much of the metro. This could prompt frost issues in Charleston proper, while places such as Dorchester and inland Berkeley may see a freeze. Thus, a Freeze Warning is up for early Friday morning for inland Berkeley and Dorchester, and a Frost Advisory is in effect for Charleston and tidal Berkeley (Daniel Island, Cainhoy). Be ready to protect plants and pets!

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