It hasn’t been snow and ice making the headlines so far this winter — it’s been heavy rain and wind. Sunday afternoon and evening and early Monday morning didn’t change that trend either.
Storms that produced driving rains deluged the area and high winds began moving into the Upstate late in the afternoon Sunday on the heels of a cold front and didn’t move out until sometime after 5 a.m. Monday, according to storm reports from the Greenville-Spartanburg office of the National Weather Service.
Luckily, the City of Union Utility Department and Union County Communications fielded no reports of damage or power outages because of the storms. The only report of damage from Union County was an unofficial report from a county official to the National Weather Service of a tree being downed due to unmeasured storm wind damage about three miles east-southeast of Cross Keys.
The weather service’s storm report states the tree was down between Cross Keys and Sedonia and a few other small limbs were down southwest of Cross Keys.
Some of those storms moving through Sunday night became severe and even threatened Union County and its neighbors with tornadic activity.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for northern Union, southwestern Cherokee, central Laurens and southeastern Spartanburg counties from 10:51-11:15 p.m. Sunday night. A tornado warning then was issued by the National Weather Service for south central Cherokee, northwestern Chester, Union and southwestern York counties from 11:05-11:45 p.m. and another was issued for west central Union County from 11:24 p.m. Sunday night to 12:15 a.m. Monday morning.
According to the National Weather Service, unofficial reports claim there were unmeasured funnel clouds reported in a few other locations also, including 10 miles southwest of Hendersonville, NC, at 5:23 p.m. and in Anderson at 6:15 p.m.
The driving rain also created flooding issues with many locations being under flash flood warnings beginning Sunday afternoon and evening and lasting until early Monday morning. Union County was under a flash flood warning from 10:33 p.m. Sunday through 4:30 a.m. Monday. Storms produced upwards of two inches of new rainfall that only added to the already soggy ground conditions.
Union County also still is under a flood warning for the Enoree River in Whitmire that lasts through Wednesday afternoon or until it’s canceled.
The river already was at 21 feet as of Monday at 2 a.m. and is expected to crest at nearly 26 feet by Tuesday afternoon or evening.
The moving cold front bringing the storms to the area also created windy conditions for much of Monday as it left the Upstate. Union County and many of its neighbors were under a wind advisory — with sustained wind speeds of 20-30 miles per hour and gusts of up to 40 miles per hour expected — from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Luckily, there was a silver lining to the dark clouds that brought the latest round of severe weather to the area. Sunny skies were left in their wake and conditions for most of the work week are expected to be better.
The National Weather Service forecast model for Union County shows skies remaining mostly clear through Thursday night. High temperatures are expected to stretch back into the 50s today (Tuesday, Jan. 26) and Wednesday with a good chance at a 60-degree day on Thursday.
Lows should be a little on the chilly side, but bearable, with temperatures dipping into the upper 20s to mid-30s over the next few days.
Unfortunately, by Thursday night the chance for more rain moves back in. There’s a 40 percent chance for rain Thursday night and then rain or snow is likely on Friday with a high around 46. The region could even see some freezing rain Friday night as the chance for precipitation remains at 60 percent and the overnight low dips to around 30 degrees.
The weekend looks to start off mostly cloudy with a 50 percent chance of freezing rain on Saturday and a high in the upper 30s and low in the lower 20s but the sun will come out again Sunday with a high in the upper 40s and low in the mid-20s.
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