Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Columbia still may be a great place to see the eclipse, despite some forecasts out there that are saying otherwise.
A graphic, based on a national forecast, was posted on USA TODAY that said the forecast for viewing on eclipse day in South Carolina would be "poor." There was also a report that a nationally known meteorologist was considering not coming to the state on August 21.
However, any talk of the Palmetto State not being a good vantage point is premature, and in fact, likely may turn out to be completely wrong, according to News19 Chief Meteorologist Jim Gandy.
"[Those forecasts] are looking at the climatology, and not at the specifics for this year," Gandy says. 'That's really what the average would tell you over 30 years worth of data. But we've been looking at the data right now.
Over the next three days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) we're going to see partly cloudy skies. There'll be a chance of afternoon thunderstorms and high temperatures will be in the mid to upper 90s.
"There's gonna be a little disturbance in the upper atmosphere passing by to the north of us on Saturday and then high pressure's going to be building in behind it," Gandy adds. "Right now, we still have a 30 percent chance for showers and thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday, but to tell you the truth, the odd that we're going to be in better weather conditions for Sunday and Monday are improving. So I'm encouraged that we'll be able to see it."
Of course, we'll continue to monitor the forecast over the next several days, and we'll have more precise computer modeling as we get closer and closer to the big day