Here’s how much rain Beaufort, Bluffton and Hilton Head got from Debby. Latest counts
Five-day rainfall totals from Tropical Storm Debby’s wake, which began trickling in Aug. 4 and petered out later Thursday, varied by several inches across Beaufort County.
On Monday morning, the most recent five-day counts from the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, a national nonprofit that collects local rainfall data and submits it to the National Weather Service, show figures as low as 6.76 inches on Hilton Head Island and up to 15.12 inches in Beaufort.
Overall, parts of Bluffton and Beaufort measured between 10 and 13 total inches during Debby, said Neil Dixon, a meteorologist with the NWS’ Charleston Office. He compared the rainfall totals from the storm event to that of Hurricane Matthew, when precipitation amounts in the county were between 10 and 12 inches.
Oct. 8, 2016, the day Hurricane Matthew hit the state as a Category 2 storm and dumped 14.02 inches of rain during a 24-hour period, remains the highest one-day rainfall count. On Monday, the network updated its rainfall counts, showing an area in Beaufort with a one-day high of 11.82 inches Aug. 6, which had not previously been logged last week.
Here are the nonprofit’s reported five-day precipitation totals for Beaufort, Bluffton, Hilton Head Island, and Saint Helena and Fripp Islands beginning early Aug. 4. The station names include the distance each rain 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
A nonprofit member measured the highest accumulation at 15.12 inches in the Rivers Edge area in Beaufort. The lowest count was in the Shell Point neighborhood at 8.54 inches.
Beaufort 3.6 miles SW: 8.54 inches
Beaufort 6.5 miles NNW: 10.75 inches
Beaufort 4.6 miles N: 10.82 inches
Beaufort 0.8 miles NNW: 11.32 inches
Beaufort 1.6 miles SSW: 12.01 inches
Beaufort 3.6 miles NE: 14.35 inches
Beaufort 5.7 miles NE: 15.12 inches
Bluffton
Moss Creek, at a gauge near Timber Lane, received the highest measured rainfall total of 13.77 inches. The lowest recorded was at The Haven at New Riverside, with 10.4 inches.
- Bluffton 7.4 miles W: 10.4 inches
- Bluffton 6.4 miles NW: 10.81 inches
- Bluffton 1.7 miles S: 11.55 inches
- Bluffton 7.6 miles NW: 11.93 inches
- Bluffton 2.5 miles NE: 13.08 inches
- Bluffton 0.7 miles NNW: 13.32 inches
- Bluffton 2.9 miles ENE: 13.77 inches
Hilton Head Island
Along Sedge Fern Drive, near Fort Howell Drive, 10.7 inches of rain fell, making it the island’s highest count in the five-day period. A gauge on Port Royal Plantation measured the lowest count at 6.76 inches.
- Hilton Head Island 4.7 ENE: 6.76 inches
- Hilton Head Island 5 miles NNE: 8.18 inches
- Hilton Head Island 4 miles N: 10.16 inches
- Hilton Head Island 4.2 miles NNE: 10.18 inches
- Hilton Head Island 4.4 miles NNE: 10.45 inches
- Hilton Head Island 4.1 miles NE: 10.7 inches
Okatie
Pinckney Landing had the highest count at 11.5 inches, while a gauge along Indigo Plantation Road came in at 9.85 inches.
- Okatie 3.5 miles NE: 9.85 inches
- Okatie 7.6 miles NE: 10.04 inches
- Okatie 7.2 miles ENE: 11.5 inches
Saint Helena and Fripp Islands
A rain gauge near the Ocean Creek Golf Course Pro Shop totaled a whopping 11.96 inches over the five-day storm period. Hunting Island reported 9.31 inches, while a spot near Saint Helena’s Bradley Seafood Market reached 9.9 inches.
- Saint Helena 7 miles E: 9.31 inches
- Saint Helena Island 2.8 miles NE: 9.9 inches
- Fripp Island 0.5 miles WSW: 11.96 inches
This story was originally published August 12, 2024 at 11:57 AM.
