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The second named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season may have quickly fizzled after making landfall in South Carolina, but rain associated with Tropical Storm Bertha will bring the threat of flooding Thursday.
The storm was named around 8 a.m. Wednesday, onshore east of Charleston by 9:30 a.m., and downgraded to a depression well inland hours later, as it brought heavy rain.
"Bertha, what is remaining of Bertha, is bringing showers and thunderstorms for parts of the Mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas, and Virginia," Fox News senior meteorologist Janice Dean said on "Fox & Friends." "That storm is dissipating, thankfully."
Heavy, tropical downpours associated with Bertha's remains will keep the threat of flooding headed north through North Carolina into southwestern Virginia on Thursday.
A road in Mount Pleasant, S.C., was under floodwaters as Tropical Storm Bertha came ashore on Wednesday. (MPPDGooge via Storyful)
Flood advisories still remain in effect around the region.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said as of 11 a.m. EDT Thursday that Bertha was moving into Canada, but the tropical moisture left would continue to create problems.
Across the Eastern Seaboard, the National Weather Service's (NWS) Weather Prediction Center (WPC), said that rain and thunderstorms will continue during the day Thursday over parts of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic.
"As some of these areas have already received copious amounts of rainfall over the last several days, flooding and flash flooding could be a threat, especially over portions of the eastern Carolinas and Virginia, where there is a slight risk of excessive rainfall in place today," the WPC said.
Up to 3 inches of rain is possible if some heavier thunderstorms that develop.
Flooding rains were reported Wednesday as Bertha came ashore. Video shared by a Mount Pleasant Police Department lieutenant showed a road in Mount Pleasant, S.C., under water.
Other videos from Wednesday showed a strong wind blowing sideways, whipping umbrellas in Garden City, south of Myrtle Beach.
Evan Woodbury told the Associated Press he took videos of the storm before starting what he expected to be a slow day at the oceanfront restaurant where he works.
“I've seen a lot worse than this. It's just the surprise element of the storm." Woodbury said. "It will definitely keep the tourists in."
Bertha was the latest — and on the calendar, the earliest — of a series of storms to affect South Carolina in the past four years. Hurricanes Matthew (2016), Irma (2017), Florence (2018) and Dorian (2019) have all brushed past the coast, causing major flooding in the much more active late summer and early fall.
The two tropical storms that formed so far in 2020, Arthur and Bertha, have continued a trend of preseason activity for a sixth consecutive year.
A look back at previous storms that have formed before June 1, the official start of Atlantic hurricane season. (Fox News)
In fact, the first named storm of the season has been in May every year since 2015.
Bertha was the second named storm of what is expected to be a busy hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Hurricane season speaks from late August through early October. (Fox News)
The last time there were two named storms before June was 2016, according to Phil Klotzbach, a research scientist with Colorado State University’s atmospheric science department.
It also happened in 1887, 1908, 1951 and 2012, he said.
The 2020 hurricane season forecast from NOAA. (Fox News)
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecasters are calling for 13 to 19 named storms with winds of 39 mph or higher; of those, six to 10 could become hurricanes. Among those hurricanes, three to six will be major, classified as Category 3, 4, and 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher.
This forecast is well above the averages of 12 named tropical storms, six hurricanes and three major hurricanes during the season.
The names for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. (Fox News)
The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season will include the names: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Laura, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky and Wilfred.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
