Weather

Update as of 2:30 PM Friday: 
Winter Weather Advisories remain in effect across Greenville, Spartanburg, Cherokee, and northern Oconee and Pickens counties through midnight tonight. On and off periods of rain/snow mix will continue in these areas this evening, likely turning to all snow tonight. Accumulations from this additional precipitation will be limited, but it will create difficult driving conditions in the Upstate. In addition, wet pavement in the Midlands may freeze in places tonight, causing slick spots. 

A Flash Flood Watch has been issued through Saturday night for the majority of the Midlands and western parts of Pee Dee and the LowCountry.

A Tornado Watch has been issued for eastern parts of the Midlands, including the city of Greenwood, through 8:00PM EDT Friday.

Strong to severe thunderstorms were moving through portions of eastern Georgia Friday afternoon and continue to approach South Carolina. Several Tornado Warnings have been issued since the late afternoon Friday in Georgia and the threat is anticipated to cross over into the Palmetto State Friday evening and into the overnight.

A Tornado Watch has been issued for eastern parts of the Midlands, including the city of Greenwood, through 8:00PM EDT Friday.

Strong to severe thunderstorms were moving through portions of eastern Georgia Friday afternoon and continue to approach South Carolina. Several Tornado Warnings have been issued since the late afternoon Friday in Georgia and the threat is anticipated to cross over into the Palmetto State Friday evening and into the overnight.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to close out 2020 and welcome in 2021. The chance of a few strong to severe storms will be possible through the holiday weekend.

Temperatures will be on the rise across the Palmetto State, after a numbingly cold Christmas weekend. However, as South Carolina approaches the final holiday weekend of 2020, another strong cold front is expected to carve through the region.

Updated Thursday December 24, 2020; 2:30PM EDT

A Tornado Watch has been issued for parts of Pee Dee until 10:00PM EDT, this includes the city of Myrtle Beach.

Strong showers and thunderstorms will have the potential to produce isolated tornadoes Thursday afternoon and evening as well as straight-line wind damage and heavy rainfall.

A battle of the seasons is anticipated over the next couple of days as a powerful cold front approaches the Southeastern United States delivering a wet Christmas Eve followed by a frigid arctic air mass Christmas Day.

On Wednesday a deepening low pressure system near the Great Lakes was continuing to track eastward while dragging a cold air mass southward and pulling a long and powerful cold front which stretches down to the Gulf Coast.

Christmas is just days away and Mother Nature is expected to deliver a blast of winter weather to the Palmetto State beginning Christmas Eve.

An intensifying low pressure system will shift east away from the Cascades and Northern Rockies and cross through the Dakotas Tuesday and Wednesday. This system should move over the Great Lakes Wednesday while dragging a cold air mass southward and pulling a long and powerful cold front.

The first winter storm of the season to move through the Carolinas will likely brush the Upstate of the Palmetto State with minor accumulations of freezing rain and sleet early Wednesday morning.

A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for the mountain areas of Oconee, Pickens and Greenville counties, where an ice accumulation of 1/10th of an inch is possible. Minor snow and sleet accumulations of up to an inch are also possible in these areas, and the National Weather Service says hazardous conditions could impact Wednesday morning's commute.

Freeze Warnings and Frost Advisories are in effect for parts of the Pee Dee region as a blast of chilly air is expected to lower temperatures to near freezing overnight into Thursday.

Some of the coldest weather of the season is expected tonight as a strong high pressure builds over the region, directing cold and dry northerly winds into the state which will drop temperatures to below average.

A slow-moving cold front combined with near record high moisture content in the atmosphere are leading to an increasing flash flood risk across South Carolina Thursday.

The National Weather Service had issued Flash Flood Watches for most of the state, where 2 to 6 inches of rain was expected Thursday. As of Thursday morning, a band of heavy rain and a few thunderstorms stretched from near Rock Hill to Newberry to Edgefield. Another batch of heavy rain was between Charleston and Hilton Head. The rain is expected to fill in as the day progresses.

Flash Flood Watches continue through Thursday evening for much of the Pee Dee, Grand Strand, and Upstate areas thanks to unseasonably high tropical moisture over the state.

Eta has come to a near halt in the southern Gulf of Mexico and is likely to remain over the Gulf of Mexico for several more days.

The tropical storm was responsible for numerous reports of flooding and tropical storm force winds in South Florida Sunday through Monday morning. 6 to 12 inches of rain occurred in many parts of metropolitan Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Nearly 18 inches of rain fell near Miramar in Broward county according to a report passed along by the National Weather Service.

Eta is the latest tropical system likely to make its move toward to the U.S. coastline in the active 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season. 

Eta weakened to a depression over Central America, but it has moved back over the warm water of the Caribbean Friday morning. Atmospheric conditions make re-strengthening into a tropical storm a good possibility later Friday or Saturday. Days of occasional heavy rainfall may increase the risk of flooding over saturated South Florida late this upcoming weekend into early next week ahead of what is likely to be Tropical Storm Eta in the Caribbean.