Weather

The city of Charleston may have been spared, but many residents of Myrtle Beach area are beginning cleanup efforts from Hurricane Isaias, which came ashore late Tuesday night near the border of North Carolina.

Isaias is on approach to the Palmetto State and there is a good chance it will be a hurricane when it makes landfall late Monday evening.

The National Hurricane Center posted Hurricane Warnings from South Santee River northward in anticipation of hurricane force winds. Tropical Storm Warnings continued farther south and include Charleston, Beaufort, and Hilton Head. Tropical Storm Warnings were also posted inland as far as Florence and Orangeburg.

Update as of 9:30 AM Sunday

Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect from South Santee River southward, including Charleston, Beaufort, and Hilton Head Island ahead of the likely arrival of Tropical Storm Isaias. Tropical Storm Watches are now posted for the Grand Strand.

Hurricane Isaias is moving northwestward putting it on a course to draw very near or over the east coast of Florida Saturday night through Sunday before turning northward to near the South Carolina coast Monday afternoon and evening.

As of the mid-morning Saturday advisory from the National Hurricane Center, top sustained winds were near 85 mph as it moved near the eastern portion of Andros Island in the Bahamas. Isaias is moving steadily toward the northwest near 12 mph, which is somewhat slower than its forward motion on Friday. 

At 4:00 p.m. South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster will give an update on the state's response to Hurricane Isaias.  S.C. Public Radio will broadcast the briefing on all stations. Watch a live stream of the event here...

11 AM Update: Isaias is still a Category 1 hurricane, although maximum sustained winds have weakened slightly, to 75 mph. The center of Isaias is about 300 miles southeast of Nassau, and storm motion has slowed a bit, to 16 mph. Isaias is expected to continue slowing down over the next few days, but should remain a Category 1 hurricane as it tracks near Florida on Saturday and Sunday. In Florida, a Hurricane Watch has been issued for the Gold Coast from southern Palm Beach to northern Brevard county. A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued from the northern Florida Keys to Sebastien.

Update Thursday 11 am: Tropical Storm Isaias is just offshore the southeastern shores of the Dominican Republic as of the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

Isaias continues to maintain maximum sustained wind speeds of 60 mph (97 km/h) with no change in intensity as of the latest advisory with a forward motion to the northwest at 20 mph.

Heavy rains and life-threatening flash flooding have been reported from the neighboring island of Puerto Rico where power has been knocked out to thousands of customers.

Update Wednesday 11 pm: Tropical Storm Isaias has formed late Wednesday night in the Caribbean Sea south of Puerto Rico. 

Update as of 8 AM Wednesday:

Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine is not yet a tropical storm, but squally weather is moving through the Lesser Antilles this morning.

While the season's first hurricane makes landfall in South Texas this weekend, a new tropical wave in the Central Atlantic could be one South Carolinians need to watch.

The area of interest, referred to by meteorologists as Invest 92, was located several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands Saturday evening. In his 8 pm update, National Hurricane Center Branch Chief Michael Brennan said conditions appear "conducive for development" in the coming days and a tropical depression or storm was "likely to form" early next week.

Tropical Storm Hanna — the earliest recorded “H” storm — developed late Thursday evening in the western Gulf of Mexico. Tropical Storm Warnings are in effect ahead of Hanna’s expected arrival on the Texas Gulf coast Saturday. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Gonzalo continues to churn westward toward the Windward Islands and the eastern Caribbean with little change in its strength.

Tropical Storm Watches are in effect for the Texas Gulf coast ahead of the likely arrival and strengthening of the season's eighth tropical depression.

As of 11 am Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said Tropical Depression Eight was located 380 miles east-southeast of Port O'Conner Texas and had top sustained winds of 35 mph. It is moving toward the west-northwest at around 9 mph and is likely to become Tropical Storm Hanna by Friday.

The tropical wave that has been depositing soaking downpours over parts of South Florida, the Keys, and the western half of the Florida peninsula may be the next system to organize into a tropical depression this week.  As of the National Hurricane Center's early afternoon update, the disturbance has an 80 percent chance of achieving depression classification Thursday or Friday. If the system is able to reach tropical storm status, its name would be Hanna. Regardless of its development, higher-than-usual shower activity is forecast over Florida for another day.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring two tropical waves for potential development, but neither are a significant or direct threat to Florida over the next five days.

Widespread temperatures in the mid to upper 90s and high humidity will boost heat indices to dangerous levels for some across the Palmetto State this week.