Myrtle Beach area to feel little impact following formation of Tropical Storm Colin

Despite its rapid overnight formation, Tropical Storm Colin will have very little impacts for Myrtle Beach and surrounding areas over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, forecasters say.

Colin formed just off the coast near Charleston overnight. As of 12:30 p.m. Saturday, the center of the storm is now moving east of Myrtle Beach and back out to the Atlantic, according to Tim Armstrong, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

Armstrong added the Tropical Storm Warning for coastal Horry County has been removed. However, there will still be chances of thunderstorms throughout Saturday afternoon and into Sunday.

Forecasters indicate there be a 30% chance of rain Saturday with a chance of showers and thunderstorms before midnight. Armstrong said the winds will not be as bad as the area saw overnight, with some gusts reaching 40 miles per hour. The NWS predicts Saturday’s winds to be between 8 to 10 miles per hour, with gusts reaching as high as 17. 

Tropical storm Colin formed following a cold front that came down and stalled off the Georgia and South Carolina coast.

“This time of the year, as warm as the water is in that area, thunderstorms just kept refiring and refiring over the same areas and developed the low pressure that became Tropical Storm Colin,” Armstrong said. 

The NWS is forecasting an inch and a half of rainfall in some areas in northern South Carolina and southern North Carolina.

While the tropical storm warning has since been removed, there was no real threat of any storm surge in the initial reports from the National Weather Service. Armstrong said this is because the water did not have a chance to respond to the strong winds.

“In a storm that brings a large storm surge, you have 24 to 36 hours of strong onshore winds ahead of that storm and it takes that much time sometimes to drive the water up and hold it there for several high tides and we didn’t have that in this case,” he said.

Even though the Grand Strand will not see major impacts from the tropical storm, Armstrong urges caution to beachgoers as the NWS is forecasting an elevated risk for strong rip currents.

“The biggest thing is to pay attention to your lifeguards at the beaches,” Armstrong said. “Otherwise just watch for thunderstorms. We’re expecting some pop up thunderstorms almost every day through the coming week.”

The NWS is forecasting a mostly sunny Sunday with a high near 89 degrees and heat index values as high as 102. As Colin makes its way back to the Atlantic, the NWS predicts a 40% chance of rain Sunday.

For the Fourth of July itself, Armstrong believes people are in the clear to have those holiday barbecues without the fear of a washout

“Most of that day will be dry,” he said. “There still is that 40% chance of a thunderstorm during the day but it’s way too early to tell when and where that will be.”