Charleston’s flood warning ended. The next two commutes remain at risk.

Saltwater covered Broad Street at Lockwood on Monday, October 26. A dated photograph published by WCIV documents the flooded Charleston intersection—but not the water’s depth, an official road closure or the harbor’s peak level. It is evidence of a street underwater, not proof that the morning’s forecast of potentially major flooding came true. ¹⁹

Charleston’s coastal flood warning is now over. The National Weather Service cancelled it at 10:29 a.m. EDT Monday, 31 minutes before its scheduled end. The next two morning commutes remain exposed: moderate coastal flooding is forecast around Tuesday and Wednesday’s high tides, with further road closures possible in flood-prone areas. Ending one warning did not end the week’s threat. ^{12 1}

That distinction matters both for choosing a route and for understanding what happened Monday. Forecasters warned that numerous roads could become impassable and properties could flood. The available reporting confirms street flooding, but does not establish a timestamped official closure list, confirmed property damage or an observed Charleston Harbor peak. The forecast described serious potential consequences; it is not a tally of actual losses. ^{2 19}

The warning for Charleston and coastal Colleton followed an overnight watch. Issued at 2:35 a.m. Monday for a 5–11 a.m. period, it forecast 1–2 feet of saltwater inundation above ground along shorelines and tidal waterways. The greatest expected impact centered on the 8:18 a.m. high tide, when major flood stage was considered possible. ^{7 2 1}

That was a particular concern for downtown Charleston’s morning commute. Roads in typical flood-prone areas were expected to become impassable or close in the hours around high tide and remain unavailable until the water receded. The photograph at Broad and Lockwood shows that water reached a street; it does not tell drivers which routes subsequently reopened. ^{19 3}

Sunday’s alert belongs to a different period. WCIV’s October 25 report described an evening advisory for Charleston and coastal Colleton and Georgetown counties scheduled through 10 p.m. A separate advisory record listed a 5–10 p.m. hazard period and a 10:45 p.m. message expiration. That later administrative timestamp did not add 45 minutes to the forecast flooding period, and neither Sunday time describes Monday evening’s alert status. ^{1 6}

Monday’s morning schedules also varied across the coast. WCIV reported coastal Georgetown’s advisory through 10 a.m., and Beaufort and tidal Berkeley’s through 11 a.m. Southern Berkeley, including Daniel Island, had a 6–11 a.m. advisory forecasting up to half a foot of inundation. Those were different locations and expected impacts from the 1–2-foot forecast in the Charleston and coastal Colleton warning—not competing estimates for the same stretch of ground. ^{19 4 2}

The documented cancellation settles the status of Monday’s Charleston and coastal Colleton warning. It does not supply a complete evening county-by-county inventory of coastal hazards. No extension of that warning beyond 11 a.m. is established in the available records. ¹²

Charleston’s Monday total-water forecast was 7.9–8.1 feet relative to Mean Lower Low Water, or MLLW. That reference is based on the lower daily low tides. It describes water elevation on a tide-gauge scale—not seven or eight feet of water over a roadway. The depth over any particular road also depends on the road’s elevation. And the range remains a forecast, not a verified observed peak. ⁴

Tuesday’s numbers require the same care. The NWS tide report issued Monday afternoon predicts an astronomical high tide of 6.9 feet MLLW, also expressed as 1.1 feet above Mean Higher High Water, a reference based on the higher daily high tides. These are two ways of expressing the same predicted astronomical tide, not two different forecasts and not estimates of street-water depth. ¹⁵

Nor can Tuesday’s 6.9-foot astronomical prediction simply be subtracted from Monday’s 7.9–8.1-foot total-water forecast to measure an improvement. The figures describe different things: astronomical tide alone versus a water-level forecast that includes weather effects. Wind can push the actual water higher. A lower-looking number is not, by itself, a safer-route forecast. ^{15 4}

The weather explains why sunny skies offered little reassurance. WCIV attributed the flooding threat to strong onshore winds combined with the year’s highest astronomical tides. A wedge of high pressure helped produce both pleasant weather across the Lowcountry and strong coastal winds. At 11:28 a.m. Monday, the NWS discussion still described a significant, multiday coastal-flooding event, with strong northeast flow through early week. ^{1 13}

The forecast progression was minor flooding around Sunday evening’s tide, potentially major flooding Monday morning, then moderate flooding Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. These categories describe the outlooks for those periods, not a measured record of what occurred. Tuesday’s tide time is confirmed by Monday afternoon’s NWS tide report; Wednesday’s comes from WCIV’s Sunday outlook. All times below are EDT. ^{1 15}

The ocean hazards run on a separate clock. The 10:29 a.m. cancellation bulletin retained a High Surf Advisory scheduled through 2 p.m. Monday and a High Rip Current Risk through 8 p.m. for coastal Colleton and Charleston. By Monday evening, the stated surf-advisory ending had passed, while the rip-current risk period had not yet ended. Cancelling the coastal flood warning was not an ocean all-clear. ¹²

Rough surf also carried risks of difficult boating conditions and beach erosion. Anyone heading to the beach needs to follow the separate ocean-hazard information rather than use the road-flood warning’s cancellation as a guide. ^{1 13}

For drivers, Charleston’s TIDEeye and city flooding resources provide places to check current road conditions. Check before choosing a route: a forecast closure is not confirmation that a road closed, and yesterday’s water—or a cancelled warning—is not confirmation that it has reopened. Do not make a water-covered road a shortcut. ^{26 27}

WCIV’s outlook expected winds to ease somewhat by midweek and conditions to begin improving by the end of the workweek. Until then, the useful test is what the next high tides actually bring: observed water levels and current road conditions, rather than an expired alert or an unverified claim of major flooding. ¹