Much rain on the way for Tuesday in Charleston (update: storm totals)

Image by Flickr user aswinchell

Update January 26, storm totals: If you're curious how much rain fell yesterday, here are the totals from the National Weather Service.

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM BROUGHT SOME MUCH NEEDED RAIN ACROSS
SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA OVER THE
PAST 24 HOURS. THE FOLLOWING ARE PRELIMINARY...UNOFFICIAL
STORM TOTAL RAINFALL REPORTS FOR JANUARY 25 2011 AS OF
930 PM. SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
MOUNT PLEASANT - KLRO 1.81
SAVANNAH NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE - SVNS1 1.15
HARDEEVILLE 0.95
BEAUFORT MCAS 0.83
MONKS CORNER - KMKS 0.77
HILTON HEAD ISLAND 0.71
CHARLESTON AIRPORT - KCHS 0.66
DOWNTOWN CHARLESTON 0.58
SEABROOK ISLAND 0.48
WITHERBEE 0.47
BEAUFORT DOWNTOWN MARINA 0.43
GOOSE CREEK - NAVAL WEAPONS STATION 0.43
WALTERBORO 0.40

SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
MERIDIAN 1.30
MIDWAY RAWS - MDWG1 1.28
SAVANNAH AIRPORT - KSAV 1.20
MIDWAY 1.18
FORT PULASKI 1.14
COFFEE BLUFF 1.09
RICHMOND HILL 1.07
SPRINGFIELD 1.06
METTER RAWS - MTFG1 0.98
STATESBORO 0.86
HINESVILLE 0.82

First reporting: A rainy system underway along the Gulf Coast is expected to push into the coastal South Carolina area by mid morning and persist for the next 48 hours bringing some two inches of rain.

On the upside it won't be snow or freezing precipitation.

That rain is forecast to begin falling in Charleston shortly after 9 a.m. with heavier rain starting around 2 p.m. and will build through the evening, dumping nearly and inch before midnight and another half inch throughout the night with showers continuing throughout much of the day Wednesday. And watch out for some lightning on Tuesday night.

And be sure to watch out for flooding in places like downtown Charleston at the high tide of 5.4 feet at 8 p.m. tonight and 6.6 feet at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Remember: If you can see the bottom of the road, don't drive through it.

But, two forecast and dollar will get you a dollar's worth of whatever you like.

On the upside, temperatures will remain mild with Monday night's lows hitting 42, a high of 58 Monday, low of 51, and high of 58 Wednesday.

You can get the full forecast here. If you'd rather digest in video fashion, check out this clip from The Weather Channel.

Oh, and if you're traveling up north later this week, watch out as its possible the rain could curve up the Atlantic Coast later this week.

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