Hurricane Joaquin to cause elevated tides, rough surf in Beaufort County
An intensifying hurricane isn't likely to bring much rain to Beaufort County this week, but will cause rough seas and high tides over the weekend.
Hurricane Joaquin, which is expected to pass the area far out in the Atlantic Ocean early Sunday, isn't expected to affect much on land in the county, National Weather Service Charleston meteorologist intern James Carpenter said. Direct impacts of the storm will be low, with a five to 19 percent chance of tropical storm-level winds from the storm in South Carolina, he said.
The hurricane's primary effect locally will be dangerous conditions it generates out on the water.
Elevated tides -- which have already been an issue for the past few days -- beach erosion, and rough surf or rip currents are all possible effects from the storm, Carpenter said.
Not that the county will see much beach weather this weekend.
The area likely will be drenched with rain this weekend from a weather system unrelated to Joaquin and tropical moisture pushing north. Carpenter said the weather system could dump eight to 10 inches of rain on here through Sunday morning. The rain from the unrelated system is expected to peak between Friday night and Saturday night but taper off by Sunday morning, when Joaquin is expected to pass by.
The heavy rains anticipated over the next few days have led to a flash flood advisory, in effect from noon Thursday until 8 p.m. Saturday.
Thursday afternoon, Joaquin was upgraded to a category 4 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph and hurricane-strength winds extending 45 miles from the storm's eye, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
No schedule changes for Friday classes in the county schools are anticipated so far, but the Beaufort County School District will monitor the storm in conjunction with county emergency preparedness officials to determine if changes are needed to Friday classes or evening athletic events, according to a district news release.
Flooding closes school
Friday classes at May River Montessori in Bluffton have been canceled after heavy rains flooded three classrooms Thursday afternoon, according to the school's Facebook page.
Follow reporter Matt McNab at twitter.com/IPBG_Matt.
Related content:
- Joaquin becomes 'dangerous Category 4 hurricane,' Oct. 1, 2015
This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 11:02 AM with the headline "Hurricane Joaquin to cause elevated tides, rough surf in Beaufort County."