Kyle closes on S.C., Georgia coast

Posted 11:25AM on Friday 11th October 2002 ( 22 years ago )

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Tropical Storm Kyle, which once reached hurricane strength as it meandered at sea for three weeks, brought heavy rain and the threat of tornadoes to South Carolina as it finally approached a soggy landfall Friday. The system regained tropical storm strength overnight. There's now a tropical storm warning posted from Brunswick northward to Surf City, North Carolina. The storm, born southeast of Bermuda on Sept. 20, was expected to make landfall southwest of Charleston about midday as a weak tropical storm before spinning northeast toward North Carolina, the National Weather Service said. ``It's not very strong. It's a very minimal tropical storm,'' said Paul Yura, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Charleston. The storm was expected to come ashore in Beaufort or Colleton counties and move about 20 miles inland before turning northeast and paralleling the coast toward North Carolina. It was expected to bring gusty winds and locally heavy rains. At midmorning, the heaviest rain of the storm moved into the Charleston area, with vivid displays of lightning accompanied by steady rolls of thunder. Weather radar showed heavy rains in the Pee Dee in the northeast corner of the state. ``So far it's been quiet here,'' said Joe Farmer of the state Emergency Preparedness Division in Columbia, who said the state had received no reports of damage or calls for assistance from counties. ``The fact we're getting rain here is good,'' he added, noting the drought which has plagued the state for four years. ``We need the rain and we need the water. We would rather not to have it come down in sheets, but the rain is a good thing as long as it doesn't hurt anyone.'' Kyle was upgraded to a tropical storm early Friday when its sustained winds reached more than 39 mph. It was the 10th time Kyle's status changed since it formed at sea. Its maximum sustained winds were about 45 mph and little change was expected by landfall. The system over time drifted southwestward and forecasters originally thought it might spin ashore in Florida. But Kyle turned to the northwest and took aim on South Carolina. At 8 a.m. Friday, the storm was located at latitude 31.8 north and longitude 80.7 west or about 35 miles southeast of Savannah, Ga. Kyle was moving north at 12 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Tropical storm warnings for the Georgia coast were dropped at 8 a.m. but remained in effect from the Savannah River north to Surf City, N.C. A tornado warning was in effect for Colleton County for about 45 minutes just before dawn on Friday after a radar signature indicated a tornado might have formed, but there were no immediate reports of damage. A second warning was posted for eastern Clarendon County a short time later and allowed to expire. Kyle was expected to bring isolated heavy rains with the heaviest expected east of Interstate 95. Preliminary reports indicated about 6 inches of rain had fallen at Edisto Beach between Thursday morning and Friday morning, the result of a front which moved through Thursday and the outer bands of Kyle, Yura said. Small craft advisories were in effect for the coast where tides have been running about 2 feet higher than normal. Rough surf and rip currents along the coast prompted officials to warn swimmers to stay out of the ocean. Kyle was a hurricane, with winds above 74 mph, for three days beginning Sept. 25. It was the third hurricane of the 2002 Atlantic season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. The tropical system with the longest life span was Hurricane Ginger, which lasted 30 days, from Sept. 5 to Oct. 5 in 1971.

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