Tracking Elsa: Tropical storm to impact Charleston and the Lowcountry Wednesday into early Thursday

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – Elsa is expected to make landfall in Florida as a tropical storm late Wednesday morning. It briefly became a hurricane Tuesday but was downgraded as it neared the north Florida Gulf Coast overnight. The storm will then trek across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect for much of the South Carolina coast, including coastal Colleton and Georgetown counties, Charleston County, and tidal and inland Berkeley County. This means tropical storm conditions are expected in the warned area.

Elsa will track west of I-95 as it passes through our area late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.

Some can expect an isolated shower Wednesday morning as the storm’s bands push toward the coast through late afternoon, but most will be dry. “It’s not until after dark when we see that increasing potential for heavy rain,” said Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Josh Marthers.

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Heavier rain will increase as the storm moves through the area through midnight and into the early morning hours on Thursday. “Any of these bands, as they move through, could briefly produce some wind gusts of 40 to 45 mph, particularly out towards the water and out on Lake Moultrie,” said Marthers.

There is also an isolated tornado risk with those heavy bands as they move across the area.

“The threat is not incredibly high, but it’s not zero,” said Marthers. “That window from about midnight through 7:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m. Thursday is when that would occur.”

Heavy rain will be focused well inland back towards I-95, but there will be bands of heavy rain along the coast.

The greatest impacts again will be Wednesday from 9:00 p.m. until Thursday at 9:00 a.m. bringing with it a low-end threat of tornadoes and wind damage, plus a medium risk of flooding rain.

There will be some flooding, but widespread significant flash flooding is not in the forecast with Elsa as it moves across the Lowcountry. There is a high risk of rip currents.

The highest rain totals back inland will be 3-5 inches from Walterboro, St. George, and up to Moncks Corner and Kingstree; 1-3” inside the Charleston metro. “Again, there will be some locally higher amounts in the heavier bands,” said Marthers.

Now is a good time to download the Storm Team 2 weather app – you can view live, interactive radar from Storm Team 2. Be sure to turn on location settings and weather alerts to receive a notification if a warning is issued for your area especially in the middle of the night.

You can also download the WCBD News app for updates from our team and watch our livestream as severe weather moves through the area.