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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - First alert weather days have been declared for Thursday and Friday as the Lowcountry is expected to be impacted by Tropical Storm Nicole.
Live 5 Chief Meteorologist Bill Walsh declared the first alert days because of rainfall and wind-driven high tides.
Live 5 Meteorologist Joey Sovine says coastal flooding is likely Wednesday through Friday around high tides with beach erosion and high surf also likely.
Sovine said heavy rain could be possible with rainfall totals between one and four inches. Breezy conditions could occur through Friday and winds may occasionally gust to, or over, 40 mph near the coast.
Nicole became the 14th named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season on Monday.
Nicole reached maximum sustained winds near 50 mph Tuesday morning and is forecasted to strengthen over the next 36 to 48 hours becoming at or near hurricane intensity by Wednesday or Wednesday night.
As of 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, Nicole was located near latitude 27.8 north and longitude 72.7 west moving west near 9 mph. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 380 miles from the center. The estimated minimum central pressure recently measured by NOAA Hurricane Hunters is 994 mb or 29.36 inches.
Forecasters say the storm will continue on a west-southwest motion through Wednesday and a west-northwest motion is expected to begin Wednesday night followed by a turn to the northwest and north-northwest Thursday night. On the forecast track, the center of Nicole will approach the northwestern Bahamas Tuesday and Tuesday night, move near or over those islands on Wednesday, and approach the east coast of Florida within the hurricane warning area Wednesday night. Nicole’s center is then expected to move across central and northern Florida into southern Georgia Thursday and Thursday night.
The Atlantic Hurricane Season runs through Nov. 30.
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