SC official holds ‘cautious optimism’ as Atlantic seas still swirl and temperatures drop
As Tropical Storm Sean stirred and lost strength in the Atlantic on Friday, a disturbance hundreds of miles south of the Cabo Verde Islands had one local meteorologist watching closely.
A “broad” area of low pressure in the tropical Atlantic was kicking up a “few” disorganized showers and thunderstorms, and had a 70% chance of forming into a named storm within a week, according to the National Hurricane Center’s Friday report. The center forecast that the disturbance’s environmental conditions were expected to become increasingly more “conducive for development by the end of the weekend” as it churned westward across the central tropical Atlantic.
“It looks like this will be the first feature to take the low road through the tropical Atlantic in a while,” wrote Frank Strait, the state’s severe weather liaison. “Computer models are in general agreement that this could be a hurricane for the Lesser Antilles in a week or so. While models agree that it will turn northward once it reaches the eastern Caribbean and stay over the Atlantic, this is not assured and I can’t promise that it will never affect SC.”
He called it “cautious optimism” and predicted the disturbance would likely be deemed Tammy, the next storm name on this year’s list.
Tropical Storm Sean and an upper low between Bermuda and the Azores will peter out and be of no concern for the South Carolina coast, Strait added. In fact, Sean was weakening faster than forecast, Charleston Meteorologist Neil Dixon said Friday.
While the past few days brought steady rains to the Lowcountry, Dixon reassured that as early as Monday, skies will clear. But be prepared for the chill going into next week as a cold front passes through.
“We may be waking up to temperatures in the 40s,” Dixon said, noting that the highs could needle to the 60s.
On Friday, Beaufort County warmed up to about 77 degrees and was under a hazardous weather outlook for rougher-than-normal seas bringing a moderate rip current risk, according to the National Weather Service.
Weekend weather
Saturday morning: Patchy fog that clear by 10 a.m., otherwise sunny skies and a high of 80.
Saturday night: Clear with a low around 60.
Sunday morning: Sunny with a high near 73.
Sunday night: Cloudy with a low around 56.
