SAVANNAH, Ga. () — Thunderstorms developed across the Coastal Empire & Lowcountry, bringing some strong storms & heavy rainfall.

Some areas picked up over 4 inches of rainfall in under 2 hours, leading to flood alerts at times. Activity gradually wound down near sunset as the atmosphere was worked and cooled.

Sunday will start off warm and muggy, then give way to a hot & humid afternoon. Less lift and instability will help limit storm chances to 30% or so.

Thanks in part to a distant Hurricane Erin, winds out of the northeast will slightly dip humidity, and limit rain chances to stray storms from Monday through Wednesday. Rain chances gradually return by the end of the week.

Erin intensified into a Category 5 hurricane shortly after 11 AM Eastern. The storm rapidly intensified from a Category 1 to a Category 5 in just 24 hours! The system is forecast to make its northward turn over the next couple of days, avoiding directly impacting the Coastal Empire & Lowcountry.

The storm will generate a wide reach of waves in the Western Atlantic. That will lead to dangerously high surf and a high risk of rip currents all week.

No direct impacts are expected to the area but be safe if you have any beach plans due to the dangerous surf conditions.

New as of Saturday evening is an area to watch moving off of Africa. An area of low pressure may develop between Africa and the Caribbean, and this feature currently has a 20% chance of becoming a tropical depression or named storm.

It is important to remember that it is the time of year for these systems. Anything that develops would be a week from reaching the Caribbean, and there is no certain outcome yet given that nothing has formed.