Hello everyone, Jared Smith here with your Charleston weather forecast for Friday, September 8th, 2023, and a look at the upcoming weekend.

Record warmth did indeed verify on Thursday, with a new record high of 96 degrees at Charleston International Airport, breaking a record first set in 1941, and then tied in 1947 and again in 2019.

Friday will run cooler courtesy of the combination of a mid-level low and a stalling cold front which will bring the first rains in Sedalia to the area, starting in the afternoon.

Expect a scattering of showers and thunderstorms along and ahead of the sea breeze to bring some brief periods of heavy rain and lightning to the area.

Strong storm isn’t totally out of the question, but seems unlikely.

It won’t rain all day at any one location either, just keep rain gear handy for your post-work Friday shenanigans.

The best chance of storms arrives Saturday as the stalled front continues to interact with the mid-level low, which will be cut off and meandering across the area, to bring numerous showers and a few thunderstorms to the area throughout the day.

Like Friday, don’t expect it to rain all day at any one location, but be ready to dodge some rain becoming heavy at times.

Highs top out in the mid-80s thanks to the cloud cover and the rain in the area, not to mention the lowered heights aloft thanks to the mid-level low.

The aforementioned mid-level low shears out and pulls away from the area for Sunday, though the stalled front will remain a player in our weather.

Highs top out in the upper 80s with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible throughout the day.

Once again though, no total washout is expected, simply be ready to bring outdoor activities inside.

And, as you probably guessed, the main story in the tropics is Hurricane Lee.

Yes, Tropical Storm Margo did form on Thursday, but it will stay largely in the eastern Atlantic, an issue for the Cabo Verde Islands certainly, but nothing we need to be concerned about here in the United States, much less the Low Country.

And now for Lee, which has had quite the day of rapid intensification.

As of the 11pm advisory on Thursday night, Lee is the first Category 5 storm in the Atlantic this year, and the first since Ian last September.

Maximum sustained winds are estimated at 160mph, with gusts to 195mph.

Pressure is down to 928mb from 953mb at 5pm.

It remains moving to the west-northwest around 14mph, and should generally continue that motion into the weekend.

Tropical strengthening is expected overnight, with the Hurricane Center explicitly forecasting 175-180mph winds near Lee’s peak intensity, generally expected to be reached Friday into Saturday before it gradually weakens, heading through the weekend into next week.

Though by weakening, I mean it perhaps will wind back down towards the Category 4 storm, which really doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, as that is still a very powerful hurricane.

The good news is that it looks to miss the Lee-Rhode Islands and Puerto Rico, though waves will be an issue there.

And for that matter, waves and rip current risks will increase for us here in our neck of the woods later this weekend as swell from the powerful storm reaches the southeastern United States.

As for where it’s going, expect Lee to start to slow down this weekend, not moving terribly much as we kick off the new workweek either.

Guidance continues to favor a turn to the north later next week, let’s hope that holds, but continue to monitor forecast updates periodically in the unlikely case it doesn’t.

And that was Charleston Weather Daily for September 8, 2023.

I’m Jared Smith.

You can find Charleston weather forecasts online at chswx.com, on Mastodon at chswx at chswx.social, on Instagram and Facebook at chswx, and on BlueSky at chswx.com.

Thanks for listening, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.