Hurricane Helene to bring gusty wind, tornado threat to Charleston area Thursday through Friday morning

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A tornado watch was issued Thursday morning for portions of South Carolina including Charleston, Colleton, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties until 9 p.m.

Storm Team 2 Meteorologist Josh Marthers said rain bands associated with Hurricane Helene have an enhanced risk of producing tornadoes in our area. “Be alert and ready to take action if warnings are issued,” he said.

A tropical storm warning is also in place for all of South Carolina as the storm is expected to impact the region Thursday into early Friday morning.

Helene was upgraded to a Category 2 storm Thursday morning. It is expected to become a large, major hurricane before making landfall around Florida’s Big Bend region during the evening and track north across Georgia into early Friday morning.

Impacts from Helene extend well to the east of there the storm tracks, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storm-force winds with frequent gusts between 40 mph and 60 mph are likely. Most will see up to 50 mph but those near the coast can expect up to 60 mph.

“VIPERCAST shows areas of rain spreading across the Lowcountry through the day today – coming in waves we’ll get some breaks from time to time. It’s not going to rain the entire time but the main event I think is going to be late evening into the overnight hours,” said meteorologist Josh Marthers.

The VIPERCAST shows the main band around Helene begins to lift north over the Lowcountry around 3 a.m. on Friday. The isolated tornado risk increases with the bands rolling off the Atlantic.

“Notice the shape of all these – they kinda have a kidney bean look to it. That’s an indication on the computer model of rotating supercell structures and those are causing the alarm for the potential of tornadoes,” said Marthers.

Marthers adds there is a significant threat of tornadoes across lower South Carolina down into southern Georgia.