Tropical Storm — Bamberg, South Carolina

2019-09-05 · Bamberg, South Carolina

Event narrative

Two trees were reported down in Bamberg Co, along with a few power outages.

Wider weather episode

Dorian formed into a tropical depression over the tropical Atlantic waters on August 24, 2019 then moved to the W and NW towards the Lesser Antilles over the next several days while strengthening into a Tropical Storm. Dorian continued moving to the NW towards the vicinity of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands where it strengthened to Hurricane status on August 28th. The Hurricane continued to strengthen and move to the NW then turned west and slowly moved across the northern Bahamas as a major hurricane, a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, on September 1st. The cyclone weakened and turned to the north, the center remaining east of the Florida coastline. The cyclone fluctuated in intensity while curving to the NE, as the center remained offshore the SC coast, on September 5th. Dorian continued moving to the NE and weakened some, eventually making its US landfall on September 6th near Cape Hatteras, NC as a category 1 hurricane.

Wind gusts up to tropical storm force were experienced across portions of the Midlands of SC, mainly across southern and eastern portions. The maximum measured wind gust across the Midlands of SC, associated with Dorian, was 48 mph near Manning, SC. Other locations across the midlands of SC generally observed peak wind gusts of 30-40 mph. A few dozen trees were reported downed, mainly across the SC counties of Orangeburg, Sumter, and Clarendon, and occurred generally in the morning to early afternoon hours of September 5, 2019.

Most areas in the Midlands of SC did not receive substantial rainfall, but up to 1 to 2 inches of rain was observed across portions of lower Orangeburg Co, Sumter Co, and Clarendon Co, but no flooding was observed. Peak rainfall amounts in the Midlands of SC were around 2 inches near Manning, SC.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 854434. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.