Strong Wind — Southern Colleton, South Carolina
2023-12-17 · Southern Colleton, South Carolina
Event narrative
A Charleston County emergency manager reported a power pole down along Summerwind Circle on Edisto Island, South Carolina.
Wider weather episode
A low pressure system developed over the Gulf of Mexico and tracked northeast across the Florida Peninsula in the early morning hours of December 17th, then strengthened across warm Atlantic waters while passing along the Southeast Coast, bringing impacts in the form of major coastal flooding, flash flooding, strong winds and high surf across southeast South Carolina.
Major coastal flooding occurred along the southeast South Carolina coast, with the Charleston Harbor Tide Gage (CHTS1) reaching a preliminary value of 9.86 ft MLLW on December 17th, the 4th highest tide on record at this location. This also set the record for the highest non-tropical related high tide level at this location. Daily rainfall amounts of 3.92 inches at Downtown Charleston (KCXM) and 3.25 inches at North Charleston (KCHS) climate sites set daily rainfall records. Elsewhere, rainfall amounts generally fell within the 2 to 4 inch range across inland areas of southeast South Carolina and 4 to 6 inches across Beaufort and Jasper Counties of southeast South Carolina. The largest rainfall amounts occurred with a quasi-stationary rainband that set up across northern Charleston County, where localized rainfall totals between 10 and 16 inches were reported. A peak daily rainfall of 16.32 inches was measured at a personal weather station on Old Cemetery Road, near McClellanville, South Carolina.
The combination of major saltwater flooding and heavy rainfall/flash flooding associated with the passing low pressure system led to at least 78 rescues being made by firefighters in the Charleston area, mostly from vehicles stalled on flooded streets. Dozens of cars and trucks were also abandoned in roadways across the area. Unfortunately, one fatality occurred when a 72-yr old female became trapped in a fully submerged vehicle during a flash flooding event in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The combination of major saltwater flooding and high surf also led to moderate/major beach erosion across Isle of Palms, Folly Beach, and Kiawah Island, as well as damage to piers/docks and several beach front properties/homes.
During rapid intensification, the low pressure system displayed central pressures lowering from 1010 mb at 7 AM December 16th to 988 mb at 7 PM December 17th, a 22 mb drop in a 36-hr period. This led to a strong pressure gradient across the region as well as December minimum sea-level pressure records being set at several coastal sites along the Southeast Coast, including at Charleston, SC (KCHS). Observed wind gusts were generally between 40 and 50 mph along the coast, with a peak wind gust of 57 mph at Folly Beach, South Carolina and a peak wind gust of 65 mph along with a maximum sea wave height of 27 ft at Buoy 41004 offshore, which led to numerous trees and power lines down across the area. Prolonged wind gusts in the 25 to 30 mph range were also experienced well inland, resulting in additional trees and power lines down.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1153561. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.