COLUMBIA, S.C. — The News19 Weather Team has issued a Weather Impact Alert Day for Wednesday for all of the Midlands counties in South Carolina due to the chance for heavy rain and storms.
A Weather Impact Alert Day is a new type of announcement from News19's weather team that allows you to know when potentially hazardous weather is coming your way and how to prepare ahead of time.
For Wednesday, widely scattered showers and storms are expected that could produce heavy rainfall. Possible impacts are frequent cloud to ground lightning with many of the thunderstorms. Most of the thunderstorms will produce downpours that could occur rainfall rates as high as one inch per hour. This could lead to hazardous driving conditions, especially in locations that have already received daily rainfall since Sunday.
Significant surface and low to mid level atmospheric moisture combined with a lack of weather systems to move through the region will produce repeated chances of rainfall throughout the afternoon and evening on Wednesday. At this point, the timing when we could see these effects is between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m.
While most of the Midlands will see some amount of rainfall, anywhere in central South Carolina could have the repeating storms move over the locations, potentially prompting weather alerts for flood advisories and or flood warnings.
The Weather Prediction Center has forecasted a SLIGHT RISK, or level 2 out of 4, for excess rainfall for all of the Midlands, as well as the entire region of the PeeDee, Central Savannah River Area, and the Upstate. This means that there is an increased chance that any area in the SLIGHT category could experience, at any time of the day or night, to receive enough rainfall to cause small stream, rivers and creeks, to have water overflow their banks slightly. This also is a risk to cause roadways to be slick and hazardous.
The News 19 Weather Team will be in Weather Impact Alert status until the threat is deemed over for any Midlands communities.
