Will Beaufort County get residual impacts from Tropical Storm Francine? What to know

Sarah Haselhorst

September 9, 2024 at 1:00 p.m.·2 min read

While Tropical Storm Francine is expected to strengthen into a hurricane midweek, making landfall in the northwestern Gulf Coast, the system shouldn’t directly impact the Lowcountry but it will bring residual effects, according to the National Weather Service’s Charleston Office.

Meteorologist Neil Dixon said a warm front from the system will settle into Southeast South Carolina as early as Thursday, resulting in another rainy weekend. The wettest period will begin Friday and steadily continue through Sunday.

Rainfall amounts aren’t anticipated to be excessive, Dixon said, adding that Hilton Head Island would get the most rain with up to 2 inches.

Because two systems churning in the Eastern and Central Tropical Atlantic have not yet developed, Dixon said it’s tough to say whether either would impact the Lowcountry.

On Monday, one of the systems was an area of low pressure over the central tropical Atlantic with environmental conditions that were “marginally conducive” for development during the next few days. The National Hurricane Center said it could form into a tropical depression while it moves over the central tropical Atlantic. Later in the week, the system is expected to churn westward-northwestward at around 10 mph, the center said. On Monday, it had a 60% chance of formation within the next 48 hours.

The second system, a trough of low pressure located several hundred miles west-southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands, was anticipated to “interact with an approaching tropical wave,” the center said Monday. A tropical depression could form during the middle-to-later part of the week, moving west-northwestward at 10 to 15 mph. Within the next seven days, the system had a 60% chance of formation.

At noon Monday, Tropical Storm Francine had sustained winds of 50 mph and was moving north-northwest at 5 mph.

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