Several flood threats loom over next several days
A series of low pressure systems could bring several inches of rain and multiple flash flooding threats to the Rock Hill area over the next few days, forecasters say.
The first of those threats developed late Sunday afternoon, with meteorologists cautioning that rainfall rates of up to 2 inches per hour were possible in some of the heavier showers and thunderstorms. A cluster of showers and storms hovered over the extreme western parts of the Carolinas much of Sunday, but the area of precipitation began drifting eastward into the Piedmont by late afternoon.
Meteorologists said they were concerned that the showers could intensify as they moved into more unstable atmospheric conditions in the Rock Hill/Charlotte area. David Roth, of the Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Md., said late Sunday afternoon that “the risk for excessive rainfall is greatest within the S.C. and N.C. Piedmont.”
“Hourly rain rates of 2 inches, and local amounts to 3 inches, are anticipated,” Roth added.
Showers and thunderstorms are forecast to taper off by early Monday morning, but the wet weather won’t be over. Harry Gerapetritis, of the National Weather Service office in Greer, said the next in a series of low pressure systems is expected to move along a stalled frontal system – generally along or near the Interstate 85 corridor – late Monday and Tuesday.
“Many locations will see another 1 to 2 inches of rain from late Monday until Tuesday night,” Gerapetritis said.
And then a third heavy rain threat is possible with another system on Wednesday, forecasters say. Shower and thunderstorm chances are expected to taper off late Wednesday and Thursday morning. That will set the stage for what is forecast to be an excellent Memorial Day weekend. High temperatures are forecast to be in the upper 70s Friday, climbing by Sunday to the upper 80s.
This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Several flood threats loom over next several days."