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Marine Weather and Tides Hilton Head Island, SC Version 3.4

NOTICE 12/16/2019 NOAA is having trouble with requests that include wind gusts. I am posting graphs without wind gusts until it gets fixed. 10/9/2019 Updated the Marine Zones. 9/4/2019 Fixed the weather maps due to NOAA moving them. 7/25/2019 New feature in the Airports section gives a link to 5 minute updates for data reports.

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Sunrise 6:59AM

Sunset 6:14PM

Thursday February 20, 2020 10:25 PM EST (03:25 UTC)

Moonrise 5:15AM

Moonset 3:35PM

Illumination 7%

NOTE: Some of the data on this page has not been verified and should be used with that in mind. It may and occasionally will, be wrong. The tide reports are by xtide and are NOT FOR NAVIGATION.

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7 Day Forecast for Marine Location Near Hilton Head Island, SC

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Area Discussion for - Charleston, SC

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FXUS62 KCHS 210216 AFDCHS

Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston SC 901 PM EST Thu Feb 20 2020

SYNOPSIS. Developing low pressure offshore will move northeast tonight. High pressure will then move into the area on Friday, bringing cold, drier air through the weekend. Another warm front will move into the area early next week, bringing more rain to the area.

NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM FRIDAY MORNING/. Objective analysis 21/02z placed low pressure about 250 miles east/northeast of Folly Beach, SC. Rain intensities are slowly waning with time as the low propagates farther out into the open Atlantic. Light precipitation is expected to slowly end from west-east through the night. Precipitation has remained all liquid so far this evening this far to the south. Mid-evening mPing data show a few reports of rain/snow mix and rain/sleet mix as far south as Columbia.

High resolution guidance has trended slightly slower with the ending of the precipitation across the Charleston Tri-County area early Friday and actually show a nice burst of precipitation developing in the Charleston to McClellanville corridor 09-12z per model reflectivity progs. With this slower movement, there is some concern with p-type as temperatures fall into the lower-mid 30s north of the I-26 corridor. High resolution soundings with support from both the 20/18z NAM3km and GFS show there should be just barely enough moisture left over in the favorable dendritic growth zone (DGZ) to support some ice nucleation. Soundings at KCHS, KMKS and Jamestown in the 09-13z time frame show a sub-freezing layer above the boundary layer so expect hydrometers to remain frozen before melting just before reaching the ground. This scenario will support either a rain-snow/flurry mix or possibly a brief burst of very light snow or flurries before as the precipitation moves offshore, mainly along/north of the I-26 corridor. Sleet appears unlikely after 06z as the warm nose noted on the 21/00z KCHS roab cools and the depth of the freezing layer deepens. No impacts are expected given the warm ground temperatures and this should be more of a novelty event this far to the south.

SHORT TERM /6 AM FRIDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY/. High pressure will continue to build into the area through Friday. A strong pressure gradient will support gusty winds up to 25 kts through Friday night into Saturday morning over Lake Moultrie. Temperatures will continue to be below normal, with lows in the upper 20's and low 30's through the weekend. High pressure will then prevail through the weekend, bringing quiet weather. Sunday will see temperatures in the upper 50s/low 60s.

LONG TERM /SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/. A warm front is forecast to lift north through the forecast area on Monday as low pressure lifts into the Ohio River Valley. Some rain could accompany the front, but the best rain chances will come late Monday night and Tuesday as a cold front passes through. Another stronger front could approach on Wednesday as a deep upper trough moves into the eastern U.S. Temperatures through the period are expected to be near to above normal.

AVIATION /02Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/. High-end IFR to low-end MVFR cigs will linger through the evening before lifting to more solid MVFR after midnight as rain begins to diminish. VSbys of 2-4 miles will persist before returning to P6SM as the rain wanes. There is a slight chance rain could mix with or briefly change to snow at KCHS just before daybreak as the precipitation ends, but there will be no impacts. VFR will return by mid-morning as skies begin to clear. Gusty winds will persist through the 00z TAF period with gusts 20-25 kt at both KSAV and KCHS.

Extended Aviation Outlook: VFR will prevail through the weekend with gusty winds through Friday night. Some restrictions likely starting Monday.

MARINE. Tonight: Solid Small Craft Advisory conditions will give way to Gale Warning conditions outside Charleston Harbor as the pressure gradient intensifies due to low pressure strengthening just east of the waters. We do not have a Gale Warning in Charleston Harbor at this point but certainly can't rule out a few gale force gusts near the mouth of the harbor. Waves will build substantially with 6-9 foot seas beyond the pilot buoys and 10-12 ft out closer to the warm Gulf Stream waters.

Friday through Tuesday: Winds will remain quite gusty through Saturday evening. Gale warnings will be in effect through Friday evening for all Charleston waters except the Charleston Harbor, which has a small craft advisory. As the pressure gradient relaxes, small craft advisories will be needed to replace the gale warnings which should remain in effect until Saturday afternoon/evening for all waters.

No concerns expected Sunday into Monday, however an uptick in winds and seas is possible on Tuesday ahead of the next low pressure system.

TIDES/COASTAL FLOODING. Tide levels in the Charleston Harbor are expected to peak around 7.1 ft MLLW with Friday morning's high tide. A Coastal Flood Advisory could be needed along parts of the lower South Carolina coast.

Strong northeast winds are likely to cause minor coastal flooding with the Friday morning high tide along the SC coast, possibly Saturday morning as well.

EQUIPMENT. There will be a 03Z special sounding released in support of the NASA IMPACTS winter storm project.

CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES. GA . None. SC . Lake Wind Advisory until 7 PM EST Friday for SCZ045. MARINE . Gale Warning until 5 PM EST Friday for AMZ350-352-354. Gale Warning until 10 PM EST Friday for AMZ374. Small Craft Advisory until 7 PM EST Friday for AMZ330.

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Weather Reporting Stations

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Stations	Dist	Age	Wind	Air Temp	Water Temp	Waves	Pressure	DewPt
FPKG1 - 8670870 - Fort Pulaski, GA	15 mi	56 min	NNE 15 G 19	44°F	56°F		1022.1 hPa
41033	20 mi	78 min	NE 23 G 31	44°F	57°F		1022.3 hPa
ACXS1 - ACE Basin Reserve, SC	29 mi	101 min	N 5.1	40°F			1022 hPa	40°F
FBIS1 - Folly Island, SC	57 mi	86 min	NNE 17 G 20	42°F			1022.6 hPa (+1.5)	42°F

Wind History for Fort Pulaski, GA

(wind in knots)    EDIT      (on/off)   Help

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NE11

NE13 G17

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NE12 G16

NE13 G17

NE11 G14

NE8 G12

NE13 G16

NE12 G16

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NE21

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1 day ago

S1

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NE16 G21

NE21 G27

NE19 G26

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2 days ago

NE7

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E3 G6

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Airport Reports

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Airport	Dist	Age	Wind kt	Visibility	Sky/Weather	Temp	DewPt	Humidity	Pressure
Hilton Head Island, Hilton Head Airport, SC	4 mi	31 min	NNE 16 G 24	8.00 mi	Light Rain	41°F	39°F	93%	1022.7 hPa
Beaufort County Airport, SC	15 mi	31 min	NNE 18 G 24	10.00 mi	Light Rain and Breezy	41°F	39°F	93%	1023 hPa
Beaufort, Marine Corps Air Station, SC	18 mi	30 min	N 16 G 23	2.00 mi	Light Rain	42°F	39°F	92%	1023.3 hPa
Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport, GA	23 mi	33 min	NNE 13 G 21	7.00 mi	Light Rain	42°F	39°F	92%	1023 hPa
Hunter U. S. Army Airfield, GA	24 mi	90 min	NNE 8	5.00 mi	Light Rain	42°F	39°F	89%	1022 hPa

Link to 5 minute data for KHXD

Wind History from HXD (wind in knots)

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N10

NE9 G17

N12

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N10 G18

NE12 G20

NE11

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N13 G19

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NE18 G23

N14 G22

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19 G25

1 day ago

S4

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N3

Calm

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N8

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N6 G19

NE12

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N13

2 days ago

N7

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NE4

N6

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NE5

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Calm

Calm

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Calm

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SE4

S4

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Tide / Current Tables for Skull Creek, south entrance, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

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Tide / Current Tables for Savannah River Entrance, Georgia Current

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Weather Map

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GEOS Local Image of Southeast    EDIT
NOTE: East coast views moved to GEOS-16. They are experimental and not well supported by NOAA so they may not be correct so be warned. This change required redoing a large amount of the GOES code. If the image you are expecting is not showing, please let me know. You may need to use the EDIT function to update your location.
Link to Loop

Other links: Northern Pacific     Contential US     Full GOES-East

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Wind Forecast for Charleston, SC (22,6,7,8)

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Ground Weather Radar Station Charleston, SC

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