As Hurricane Humberto forms, another system could impact South Carolina
While forecasts are uncertain, the Atlantic basin is still cooking up a possible storm that could make its way near the Palmetto state early next week.
Of the three systems the National Hurricane Center is tracking, two could spell trouble for South Carolina. Humberto strengthened just enough to become a Category 1 hurricane overnight. Given its predicted turn to the northwest early next week, this storm will not directly threaten South Carolina, though it could bring rip currents and rough seas to the area. Forecasts show Humberto strengthening into a major hurricane over the weekend.
How Humberto interacts with what is now a tropical wave, an area of low pressure and precursor to tropical cyclones, will help determine what next week will bring to coastal South Carolina.
Meteorologists give the tropical wave, called AL94 for now, an 80% chance of forming a cyclone in the next couple of days. The wave currently sits near Hispaniola, bringing heavy rains and wind to the area. It’s this system that could bring some action to Georgia and the Carolinas in the coming week.
Meteorologists with the National Hurricane Center predict the tropical wave will turn into a tropical depression over the Bahamas sometime this weekend. On Thursday afternoon, Dr. Michael Brennan, a meteorologist with the National Hurricane Center, said the depression will then likely move northwest from there. If the depression turns into a tropical storm, it will be named Imelda.
As the storm continues to develop, it will bring chances of heavy rain, wind and storm surge to parts of Florida through the Carolinas, Brennan said.
The system could also interact with Humberto as it moves north towards the Southeast United States, which could alter the track of the storm as it moves across the Atlantic. In the best case scenario, Humberto is strong and close enough to pull what will become Imelda away from the coast, according to Frank Strait, the severe weather liaison with the South Carolina Climatology Office.
If Humberto is too far or too weak to exert any forces on what will become Imelda, then Imelda has higher chances of moving towards the South Carolina, according to Strait.
Update 11:55 a.m. Friday: While the forecast AL94 is still uncertain, the National Weather Service in Charleston said to prepare for tropical storm or low end hurricane force winds, which could bring uprooted trees, power outages and damage to some structures.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 10:16 AM.
