![]() Weakening winds and a track just offshore hasn’t impeded the ability of Hurricane Matthew to produce vast amounts of rain along and near the Southeast coast, as the storm took advantage of all-time record levels of atmospheric moisture. Record atmospheric moisture contributing to Matthew’s deluge Image credit: NOAA/NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service. Multi-sensor analysis of rainfall for the 24 hours ending at 8:00 am EDT Saturday, October 8, 2016. Needham has some excellent information on the storm surge history of the north Florida to southern South Carolina coast in a Friday morning blog post, The "Protected Coast" is Now the Most Dangerous Place of All.įigure 3. You can track Matthew’s storm surge using our wundermap with the “Storm Surge” layer turned on, the NOAA Tides and Currents storm page for Matthew or storm surge expert Dr. This track will push a dangerous storm surge of near record-high proportions to the coast, with NHC predicting inundations of 5 - 7’ possible from Charleston, SC to Cape Fear, and lower heights of 2 - 4’ for the coast of southern North Carolina farther to the east. Matthew will continue to track right along the coast of South Carolina this afternoon, then turn more to the northeast and track just south of the North Carolina coast Saturday night through Sunday morning. A storm surge of 5.4’ was indicated near Georgetown, South Carolina, with 3.5’ at Wilmington, North Carolina. Hurricane Matthew radar at 11 am EDT Saturday, October 8, 2016, as seen on our wundermap with the storm surge layer turned on. The record 3.65’, during the Janunor’easter (records since 1957.)įigure 2. The record: 6.91’ during the Octohurricane (records since 1897.)Īt Springmaid Pier, SC the water level during Saturday afternoon’s high tide was the second highest on record: 2.66’. The record: 6.76’ during Hurricane Hugo on Septemsecond highest, 4.47’ during the Aughurricane (records since 1921.)Īt Fernandina Beach, FL, the water level during Friday afternoon’s high tide was the second highest on record: 4.17’. ![]() Near-record high water levels were observed at three other stations:Īt Charleston SC, the water level during the Saturday morning high tide was the third highest on record: 3.53’. Previous record: 2.47’, during Hurricane Jeanne on Septem(records since 1928.) Wilmington, NC: 3.53’ Previous record 3.47’, during Hurricane Hazel on Octo(records since 1935.) Previous record: 3.40’ during the Octohurricane (records since 1935.) Three tide gauges with long-term historical records along this stretch of coast set all-time records on Friday through Saturday for their highest water level (also called the storm tide, or the water level measured relative to high tide, MHHW): Image credit: Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department. In Savannah, GA, a car is stranded in waist-deep water near Ogeechee Road and Stiles Avenue on Saturday morning, October 8. As of 8 am EDT Sunday, October 9, here were the approximate peak storm surges observed over the preceding 48 hours at all the tide gauges with a long-term period of record along the coasts of northern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia (storm surge is the added water produced by a storm atop the normal tidal cycles):įigure 1. The powerful hurricane, diminished to Category 2 strength with 105 mph winds early Saturday morning, nonetheless had a very large area of strong winds that were able to pile up a massive dome of water that was focused by the arc-shaped curve of the coast into a record-height storm surge. During the past two high tide cycles, Matthew has pushed a historic and destructive storm surge to the coasts of northern Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, bringing coastal water levels that were the highest to third highest ever observed. Hurricane Matthew made landfall near 11 am EDT Saturday about 25 miles northeast of Charleston, South Carolina as a Category 1 hurricane with 75 mph winds.
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