SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Friday shaped up to be very rainy in the Coastal Empire and Lowcounty. Heavy rain over Savannah led to numerous reports of flooded streets.

VIPIR Radar estimates that over 3″ of rain fell in portions of Chatham County. Heavy rain was also an issue for Bryan and Liberty County along Interstate-95. Flood waters have receded and drained from most of the roads by Friday evening.

However, more heavy rain is on the way for the weekend.

A LOOK AHEAD

A trough of low pressure that has been helping to enhance our rain chances this week will stay in place for the weekend. Periods of heavy rain are expected Saturday, Sunday, and into Monday.

A mid-level trough of low pressure is moving westward toward Florida also and that will help to direct more deep tropical moisture over our area. Rainfall rates at times will be in excess of 1-2″ per hour which may lead to localized flooding.

Rainfall totals will be in excess of 3″ for some locations through Monday.

The cloudy and wet pattern will help to keep conditions mild in the upper 70s to lower 80s for high temperatures Saturday through Monday. 

Showers and storms will begin to develop Saturday morning and will continue through the afternoon and early evening. Timing for storms on Sunday will be similar with the bulk of the rain developing by mid-morning and continuing into the afternoon.

Rain on Monday will be concentrated in the afternoon and early evening. 

Rain and storm chances will begin to diminish by Tuesday, and a direr patter will remain for the workweek. Much hotter afternoon highs are expected with the drier patter.

High temperatures will be back into the lower to middle 90s by Thursday and Friday. The humidity will lead to heat index values in the upper 90s to 100°F.

TRACKING THE TROPICS

The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is monitoring two tropical waves in the Atlantic basin for further development. 

A well-defined tropical wave has been moving through the central Atlantic over the past few days. It was looking to become more organized this weekend, though it is now moving into an environment that is not a conducive for tropical development.

The NHC gives it a medium chance (now 40%) for development into a tropical depression or tropical storm over the next 5-7 days. There is no threat to land from this system regardless of development or not.

A second tropical wave is in the process of moving off of the west African coast as of Friday evening. This tropical wave is weak and not very organized at this time. The environment will support some slow organization and strengthening as this system moves westward.

The NHC gives this a low (20%) chance of developing over the next 5-7 days into either a tropical depression or tropical storm. The Caribbean Islands will need to keep an eye on this system.

A weaker tropical system is more likely to continue a westward path rather than turning northward like the first tropical wave we are tracking. There is no threat to the U.S. at this time.