TD4 becomes Tropical Storm Debby; Heavy rain and gusty wind likely next week

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Tropical Depression Four was upgraded to Tropical Storm Debby on Saturday afternoon.

Debby’s winds are 40 mph, and the center is located 100 miles WSW of Key West, Florida moving northwest at 15 mph.

The forecast has Debby making landfall near Florida’s Big Bend area as a hurricane on Monday.

Forecast models show the storm reemerging in the Atlantic off the Georgia and South Carolina coast.

“Currently, no watches are up for us along the SC coast, but I have a feeling those will be coming soon. Watches are issued some 48 hours ahead of possible tropical storm conditions,” said Storm Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Rob Fowler.

Fowler said local concern is for a significant rain event late weekend into next week.

“The heaviest rainfall will be track dependent, but regardless, our confidence is higher that we will see quite a bit of rainfall, especially based on the forecast where the storm slows to a crawl on or near our coastline. The updated bullseye from the Weather Prediction Center shows us in an area which could see 12-16” through Thursday,” he said.

The risk for tropical storm force wind gusts is increasing for our area.

Count on Storm Team 2 and counton2.com for updates.

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