…TROPICAL STORM WARNING ISSUED AND HEAVY RAINFALL EXPECTED..
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect along the coast of South Carolina from Edisto Beach to South Santee River. Tropical storm conditions are expected to reach the coast within the warning area in the next couple of hours.
NHC is issuing advsories on newly formed Tropical Storm Bertha. The circulation has become better defined and the center has reformed beneath the area of deep convection just offshore of the coast of South Carolina. Recent NWS Doppler radar data from Charleston and buoy data indicates that the system is producing tropical-storm-force winds.
Bertha is centered at 8:30 a.m. EDT about 30 miles (50 km) east-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina. It’s moving toward the northwest near 9 mph (15 km/h) and this motion is expected to continue through tonight. On the forecast track, the center will move onshore in the warning area in the next few hours and the move inland across eastern and northern South Carolina later today and into west-central North Carolina by tonight.
Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph (75 km/h) with higher gusts. Tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 25 miles (35 km) from the center. Bertha is expected to weaken to a tropical depression after moving inland and become a remnant low tonight.
Bertha is expected to produce total rain accumulation of 2 to 4 inches with isolated totals of 8 inches across eastern and central South Carolina into west central to far southeastern North Carolina and southwest Virginia. This rainfall may produce life-threatening flash flooding.
The next complete advisory will be issued by NHC at 11 a.m. EDT – www.hurricanes.gov