COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hurricane Idalia made landfall in Florida on Wednesday, Aug. 30. The storm traveled up the East Coast, eventually meeting South Carolina as a tropical storm.
Tropical Storm Idalia brought heavy rainfall, triggering localized flooding in some areas. South Carolina's Lowcountry was on high alert as they braced for the storm's impact.
Ron Morales is the warning coordination meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Charleston. He said the storm's track was very well forecasted by the National Hurricane Center. The Charleston NWS office provided timely updates and advisories to inform residents about the storm. This became especially important as brief tornadoes formed.
"We started to get more concerned about tornadoes as the day wore on. We ended up issuing quite a few tornado warnings," Morales stated.
Tornadoes associated with tropical events often form quickly and can be challenging to spot on the radar. That wasn't the National Weather Service's primary concern, though. It was coastal flooding.
"We ended up hitting a pretty high mark for Charleston, just shy of what it got from Hurricane Matthew. The storm was still south of us, and we had an onshore wind coming from the ocean into the land while we were in the high tide cycle," said Morales.
While Tropical Storm Idalia has moved on, its impact reminds us of the importance of preparedness.
"We're close to Labor Day, which is kind of the official end of summer, and you think, 'Tropical season is over,'" Morales said. "It's actually kind of ramping up; it's in the peak soon."
Tropical weather serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of weather and the importance of being ready.
NWS Charleston is still surveying the aftermath of Idalia in South Carolina and will have a complete report in the coming days.