Hello everyone! Jared Smith here with your Charleston weather forecast for Wednesday, December 13th, 2023 as well as the rest of the work week.

Wednesday will get off to another chilly start.

Temperatures will bottom out once again in the mid-30s across much of the metro, with a few spots, primarily rural areas away from the coast, potentially falling to freezing.

In fact, we hit freezing at the airport for the first time since January 28th on Tuesday morning, bringing a 317-day stretch of above freezing temperatures to an end at that climate site.

However, we will warm up to the low 60s in the afternoon, a few degrees above where we were Tuesday, and within spitting distance of normal.

Expect generally mostly sunny skies with a bit of a northeast breeze, particularly near the coast.

One thing we’re going to start to keep an eye on beginning Wednesday morning and heading into the weekend is going to be the risk for coastal flooding.

Water levels will get to action stage with a 7.50am high tide, but we should fall short of the Coastal Flood Advisory threshold of 7 feet mean low or low water in Charleston Harbor.

Still, don’t be surprised to see a little saltwater trying to peek through the drains along Lockwood as well as around Gadsden Creek.

The brief warmup doesn’t last though, as another front comes by overnight Wednesday into early Thursday.

This won’t come with any rain, but it will come with a reinforcing shot of cooler air as strong high pressure starts to wedge in from the north.

We’ll definitely notice an uptick in winds too, with a decent breeze out of the northeast expected across the area.

Gusts to 20-25mph certainly seem possible, especially near the coast.

The risk for coastal flooding also heads up with Thursday morning’s high tide, which looks to peak a little after 8.30am, and right now minor to moderate flooding is in the forecast, so be ready for some road closures on Thursday’s commute.

Friday will get off to another chilly start, with lows bottoming out in the mid 30s once again.

A few spots could once again touch freezing, so be prepared for that possibility, especially away from the coast and in more rural areas.

Mostly sunny skies are expected, though winds should stay elevated as highs only get to the mid to upper 50s.

As we head towards the weekend, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the Gulf and Florida, as low pressure is expected to spin up.

This will tighten the gradient between high pressure to the north and low to the south, we’re going to be right in the middle of that pinch, and that could strengthen winds even further heading into Saturday and Sunday.

Model guidance is pretty aggressive at intensifying the low pressure system, and the resulting northeasterly winds could drive a continued risk for coastal flooding through the weekend.

There is a lot of uncertainty around the track, which will determine how long the coastal flood risk remains around, as well as how much rain we ultimately get.

The current forecast keeps Saturday rain free, while showers start to get going overnight Saturday into Sunday with increasing northeasterly winds.

Our run of lousy Sundays, unfortunately, seems like it will continue.

Stay tuned for forecast updates throughout the week as trends in the models become more established.

And that was Charleston Weather Daily for December 13th, 2023.

I’m Jared Smith.

You can find Charleston weather forecasts online at chswx.com, on Mastodon 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.