Severe storms are expected to sweep through the state again Friday, for the second time in less than one week. The Storm Prediction Center has placed a large portion of central South Carolina including Columbia and parts of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee in an SLIGHT risk for severe weather, a level 2 of 5 for Friday. The biggest concern will be for damaging wind gusts over 60 MPH, but an isolated tornado is possible.
Timing for Friday’s storms will be for the afternoon and evening hours, from about 3 PM - 11 PM. Along with the threat of damaging winds, heavy rains from storms could lead to flash flooding. Areas of the Upstate will be most at risk, where NOAA’s Weather Prediction Center has a Marginal risk category for flash flooding.
Some large hail will also be possible. As the storms system evolves, some of the details regarding South Carolina’s impacts may change into Friday afternoon. That means it will be important to have multiple ways to get weather information until storms clear the state late Friday night into early Saturday morning. The rest of the weekend will be dry, with another round of rain set to move in early next week.