Thursday's forecast: Mostly cloudy with comfortable temperatures, but watch for coastal flooding around high tides
Hello everyone, Jared Smith here with your Charleston weather forecast for Thursday, September 28th, 2023.
High pressure wedging into the area will keep temperatures comfortable for Thursday.
Expect a start in the mid-60s, with highs topping out around 80 degrees in the afternoon thanks to the cool northeasterly breeze and continued cloud cover.
We should see some breaks of sun as well, though.
Those become a little more frequent heading into Friday as drier air begins to work into the area, and by Saturday we’re back to generally partly cloudy skies, and on Sunday maybe a cloud or two tops.
Expect highs around 82 degrees on Friday, 84 degrees on Saturday before cooling off a little bit back to around 80-81 on Sunday.
A shower might be possible near the coast on Thursday, but otherwise we’re going to get into another rain-free stretch for the rest of the work week into the weekend.
The main weather story is going to be coastal flooding, though.
After the water level topped out at 7.93 feet in Charleston Harbor on Wednesday evening, we should match that height again Thursday morning, and a coastal flood advisory is already out from 5-10am.
Expect disruptions to the commute if downtown Charleston happens to be part of that commute.
Be ready to route around flooded roads, and don’t cross any flooded roads because that is saltwater.
Major coastal flooding is in the forecast for Thursday evening, with high tide expected to top out around 8.1 feet a little after 8pm.
Persistent northeasterly winds and the full moon at Perigee keeps the risk for moderate to major coastal flooding at times of high tide going into Friday and Saturday as well.
So stay tuned for coastal flood advisories and warnings from the National Weather Service so you know when the risk for tidal flooding is highest.
Finally in the tropics, we find Philippe still struggling with shear, though it perked up a little today.
However, it is still expected to weaken as it continues to move generally westward across the Atlantic, and the forecast is for it to degenerate into a post-tropical low by this weekend.
It may bring some disturbed weather to Puerto Rico, but at least it won’t be a hurricane.
The only other area of note on the National Hurricane Center outlook is 91L, which has yet to get it together enough to be called a depression.
The Hurricane Center still expects that to happen within the next couple days, and it should still become our next named storm.
Unless something pops up and takes it first, this system should become Rhena.
But the bottom line, though, is this.
There are currently no tropical threats to the Low Country.
And that was Charleston Weather Daily for September 28th, 2023.
I’m Jared Smith.
You can find Charleston weather forecasts online at chswx.com, on Mastodon at chswx dot social, on Instagram and Facebook at chswx, and on BlueSky at chswx.com.
Thanks for listening, and I’ll talk to you tomorrow.