Tropical Storm Fred threatens parts of NC, SC with heavy rain. Here’s the forecast
Tropical Storm Fred could dump heavy rain on parts of North Carolina and South Carolina this week.
Fred was located about 25 miles west of Apalachicola, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph as of 3:15 p.m. Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was moving north-northeast at 9 mph.
Tropical-storm-force winds — which range from 39 to 73 mph — extend up to 115 miles from Fred’s center.
The storm’s center made landfall near near Cape San Blas, Florida, on Monday afternoon, the hurricane center said at 3:15 p.m. Forecasters have said it’s expected to “quickly weaken” after making landfall.
Its path as of 2 p.m. shows it weakening to a tropical depression Tuesday morning, before it reaches the Carolinas. A tropical depression has maximum sustained wind speeds of 38 mph or less.
But Fred could still bring heavy rain to parts of the region through Tuesday.
”By the middle of the week as Fred lifts north and inland, heavy rainfall and flooding will impact the southern and central Appalachians, the Piedmont of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic,” the hurricane center says. “Landslides are possible across the mountains of North Carolina and Blue Ridge Escarpment on Tuesday.”
The western parts of North and South Carolina could see between 4 and 7 inches of rain, with “isolated maximum storm totals of 10 inches” possible through Tuesday, the hurricane center says.
Parts of western North Carolina and upstate South Carolina are under a flash flood watch starting Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning.
“Tropical moisture in advance of Tropical Cyclone Fred will continue to increase across the region through Tuesday,” the National Weather Service says. “Thunderstorms will become increasingly widespread and have the potential to produce excessive rainfall during this time.”
The heaviest rain from Fred is expected in the North Carolina mountains and the upstate region of South Carolina, the hurricane center says. The Charlotte area is forecast to get between 1 and 4 inches of rain. Other areas of South Carolina could see between 1 and 2 inches.
The NWS says the biggest chance of “excessive rain” in western North Carolina, piedmont North Carolina and upstate South Carolina will likely be Tuesday and Tuesday evening as “a remnant circulation from Fred moves northward to the west of the region.”
It could result in flash flooding, especially in areas that get “multiple rounds of heavy rainfall.”
“The flood threat will steadily increase as showers and thunderstorms wet the soil,” the weather service says.
Much of North Carolina, from west of the Raleigh area, has a 10% chance of flash flooding over the next three days, with a small area with a 20% chance. Other parts of the state have a 5% chance, the hurricane center says. Most of South Carolina has a 10% chance.
This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 9:32 AM.
