Coastal Flood Watch now in effect, wind and rain picking up through Saturday

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – A strong coastal storm will hit the coast of South Carolina on Saturday and Sunday, bringing gusty winds, periods of rain and the risk of significant coastal flooding to the area.

COASTAL SURVEILLANCE

The combination of unusually high King Tides associated with the near new moon will continue to generate very high tides throughout the weekend. The gusty winds and rough surf associated with the offshore storm system will help raise the water level even further. A COASTAL FLOOD CLOCK is now in effect for the coastal boroughs of Horry and Georgetown through Saturday morning.

The latest tide forecast suggests that Saturday morning tide can reach up to 8.5 feet. Coastal flooding begins when the tide reaches 7 feet. At 8.5 feet, coastal flooding in areas like Cherry Grove, Garden City, and Pawleys Island will be more widespread and deeper than normal coastal flooding.

Sunday morning tide may get even higher with a forecast now 8.9 feet. If reached, that level would be higher than what the region saw from Hurricane Dorian but lower than what the region saw from Hurricane Isaias. Significant coastal flooding is likely. 8.9 feet would place the fifth highest tide ever at Myrtle Beach.

RAINFALL

Light rain will spread across the area early Saturday and become more widespread and potentially more severe in the late afternoon and evening. The heaviest rain is likely to arrive on Saturday around sunset and can last all night. The rain will continue until Sunday morning before subsiding on Sunday afternoon.

Rainfall totals will be highest near beaches where 1 to 3 inches of rain is likely. With the recent drought, no flooding is to be expected. In the interior of the country there will be significantly less rainfall.

WIND

The strong storm system will generate strong winds for much of the weekend. The strongest gusts of wind will come over the Grand Strand from Saturday afternoon and will last until early Sunday morning. Peak gusts of wind over the beaches are likely to reach 35 to 45 miles per hour at times. Inland gusts of 25 to 35 miles per hour are seen. If the storm is a little stronger than expected, a few gusts of over 80 km / h would be possible near the beach.

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