With Lee now a hurricane, here’s how it may impact the Myrtle Beach area, forecasters say

Eleanor Nash
·1 min read
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Hurricane Lee could cause rip currents in the Myrtle Beach area as early the beginning of next week, said Matt Scalora, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

Lee was upgraded from a tropical storm to a hurricane Wednesday afternoon. The storm could strengthen to a major hurricane by early Saturday, according to the NWS.

As Lee won’t pass east of South Carolina for eight to 10 days, Scalora said the NWS does not yet know if Myrtle Beach will experience any direct impacts of the storm. Most long-range spaghetti models show the storm curving north in the Atlantic and staying far from shore.

In August, NOAA predicted 2023 would have an above-normal hurricane season, with six to 11 hurricanes. Tropical Storm Lee is the 13th tropical depression to form in the Atlantic Basin this year.

The strengthening of Lee comes days after Myrtle Beach was hit by Tropical Storm Idalia.

Hurricane Idalia had weakened to a tropical storm by the time it hit the Myrtle Beach area on Aug. 30. The storm brought multiple tornadoes, including ones in Georgetown and Cherry Grove. Heavy rains and a king tide increased ocean levels, causing flooding. About 7.4 inches of rain fell in Loris and 4.6 inches in Surfside Beach, according to the NWS. The Santee Cooper outage map reported nine outages and fewer than 100 people impacted the morning after the storm hit.