Weather forecasters aren’t ruling out wind, rain, hail for Hilton Head, Beaufort Sunday
.png "Thunderstorms are possible across much of the state on Sunday.")
Rain and possibly thunderstorms are in the weekend forecast for the Lowcountry but just how severe the weather will get remained uncertain Friday.
While a coastal trough just offshore drifted over the coast Friday creating light showers and dreary skies, the National Weather Service in Charleston said there’s an 80% chance of rain Sunday morning — including the possibility of thunderstorms after 10 a.m. in the Beaufort and Hilton Head areas, with a quarter to a half inch of rainfall possible.
South winds of 10 to 13 mph with gusts as high as 21 mph are expected.
There’s also a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms Sunday night into Monday morning that could bring at least an additional 10th of an inch of rain.
The weekend forecast calls for a 20-40% chance of rain leading up to Sunday.
Frank Strait, the severe weather liaison for the S.C. State Climate Office, said there was uncertainty Friday about how high the thunderstorm risk will be but the ingredients — like warmth, humidity, and wind shear — will be in place, so damaging wind, large hail and isolated tornadoes could not be ruled out.
“However, we’re unsure how warm it will get (that depends on how cloudy it will be ahead of the front) and how fast the front will be moving (which will determine where storms will be at the warmest and most unstable time of the day), so we can’t yet pinpoint where the greatest risk will be or say for sure how widespread the severe weather will be,” he said.
Strait advises rechecking the forecast on Saturday and again on Sunday morning.
