Did Beaufort County break its one-day rainfall record during Debby? Here are the numbers
Early in Tropical Storm Debby’s path through the Lowcountry, local meteorologists warned that the storm could bring double-digit rainfall to the area.
It did just that. But did Debby’s torrent break any records in Beaufort County?
While the storm dumped drenching rains over a four-day stretch, causing detrimental flooding in some areas, Debby didn’t break the highest one-day rainfall record, based on the state’s climatology office’s most recent data Thursday morning. One spot in Beaufort was about 3 inches away from the record.
On Tuesday, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, a national nonprofit that collects local rainfall data and submits it to the National Weather Service, recorded 10.88 inches from a gauge in Beaufort.
Daily rainfall from Tropical Storm Debby was “up there with (Hurricane) Matthew’s,” said Neil Dixon, a meteorologist with the NWS’ Charleston Office.
On Oct. 8, 2016, Hurricane Matthew hit the state as a Category 2 storm and dumped 14.02 inches of rain during a 24-hour period in Beaufort County, which remains the county’s one-day rainfall record.
Overall, parts of Bluffton and Beaufort measured between 10 and 13 total inches over the past four days, Dixon said Thursday. During Hurricane Matthew, rainfall amounts in the county were between 10 and 12 inches.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette used the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network’s daily precipitation totals from rain stations that reported every day during Tropical Storm Debby. That included 18 rain gauge stations across Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head Island. Gauge stations that didn’t report each day weren’t included.
The network’s data indicated total rainfall, recorded from the 18 gauges in Beaufort County, averaged 10.73 inches from Sunday to Thursday morning, according to the nonprofit’s most up to date data Thursday morning.
Highest four-day totals
These are the highest individual station totals over the four days from the latest data input. The station names include the distance each gauge is from the center of the town or city it is in and a compass direction, such as northeast (NE) or south-southwest (SSW).
Beaufort 6.5 miles NNW: 13.78 inches
Bluffton 6.4 miles NW: 11.35 inches
Fripp Island 0.5 miles WSW: 10.12 inches
Hilton Head Island 4 miles N: 12.67 inches
Okatie 7.2 miles ENE: 10.79 inches
Highest one-day totals
Here are the highest one-day totals in the county’s major municipalities. All of the network’s stations reported the highest rainfall totals were collected Tuesday during the Tropical Storm Debby event.
Beaufort 6.5 miles NNW: 10.88 inches
Bluffton 6.4 miles NW: 9.05 inches
Fripp Island 0.5 miles WSW: 7.8 inches
Hilton Head Island 4 miles N: 9.75 inches
Okatie 7.2 miles ENE: 9.1 inches
This story was originally published August 8, 2024 at 3:06 PM.
