Idalia first developed into a tropical depression across the western Caribbean Sea near the Yucatan Peninsula on August 26th before slowly gaining strength and becoming a tropical storm on August 27th. The storm then began to take a northward track the next day, passing the western tip of Cuba while gaining strength. On August 29th, Idalia was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane early in the morning, then intensified to a Category 2 hurricane later in the day while tracking across the southeast Gulf of Mexico. Idalia then continued to strengthen as it accelerated northward on August 30th, passing off the Florida Suncoast as a Category 2 hurricane, before rapidly intensifying to a major Category 4 hurricane while approaching the Big Ben region of Florida across the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Idalia then made landfall at 645 AM EST on August 30th about 20 miles south of Perry, Florida as a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and a minimum central pressure of 949 mb.
Idalia continued to track north-northeast after landfall, eventually turning northeast and weakening to a strong tropical storm while traversing southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina late morning through evening hours on August 30th. Minimum surface pressures of 985.4 mb at Hinesville, GA (KLHW), 984.6 mb at Charleston City, SC (CHLS1) and 983.3 mb at the Savannah Entrance Light across nearshore coastal waters were recorded as Idalia tracked across the local area. Idalia then continued tracking northeast away from the region, exiting into the western Atlantic just south of Myrtle Beach, SC during early morning hours on August 31st. Idalia then began an eastward path across the western Atlantic, becoming a post tropical cyclone by late day, before continuing a track toward Bermuda for the next couple days.
Across southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina, the main impacts associated with Idalia included tropical storm force winds, heavy rain, storm surge and tornadoes. Tropical storm force winds gusts up to 40 to 69 mph (highest near coastal areas) aided with heavy rains led to numerous trees and power lines down across southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina. On August 30th, a maximum sustained wind of 44 knots and peak wind gust of 60 knots was recorded at the Tybee Island South sensor (XTYE) in southeast Georgia while a maximum sustained wind of 41 knots was recorded at the Folly South End (XFSE) sensor and a peak wind gust of 58 knots was recorded at the Beaufort (XBUF) sensor in southeast South Carolina. Additionally, a maximum sustained wind of 49 knots and a peak wind gust of 60 knots was recorded at the Savannah Entrance Light (XSEL) across nearshore coastal waters. One indirect injury occurred due to tropical storm winds when a vehicle collided with a fallen tree in Effingham County, GA. No fatalities occurred due to tropical storm winds across the area.
Storm total rainfall amounts generally ranged between 1 to 2 inches across coastal areas of southeast Georgia, 2 to 4 inches along and east of Interstate 95 across southeast South Carolina and 4 to 9 inches across far inland areas of southeast Georgia and areas west of Interstate 95 in southeast South Carolina. A peak storm total rainfall of 9.05 inches was recorded near Smoaks, South Carolina while a peak storm total rainfall of 8.28 inches was recorded near Metter, Georgia. Heavy rains across inland areas led to instances of flash flooding with numerous roads washed out, water entering a few structures and 2 vehicles being swept off roadways. No injuries or fatalities occurred due to heavy rain/flash flooding across the area.
Idalia's passage was coincident with high tide, resulting in storm surge generally between 2 to 3.5 ft along the southeast South Carolina coast. A maximum tide level of 3.47 ft MHHW (9.23 ft MLLW) was observed at the Charleston Harbor (CHTS1) tide gauge at 718 PM EST on August 30th, making it the 5th highest tide on record for that location. Damage/inundation from storm surge crossing roads, entering properties and flooding structures was most notable along the Charleston, Colleton, and Beaufort County coasts, mainly in the McClellanville, Isle of Palms, Mount Pleasant, Folly Beach, Downtown Charleston, Edisto Island and Saint Helena Island communities/areas. Peak storm surge (3.5 ft) was noted along areas adjacent to the Ashley River and the Charleston Harbor in Charleston County. Further south, a maximum tide level of 1.95 ft MHHW (9.45 ft MLLW) was observed at the Fort Pulaski (FPKG1) tide gauge at 654 PM EST on August 29th, which was consistent with water levels that typically do not produce significant impacts along the southeast Georgia coast. No injuries or fatalities occurred due to storm surge across the area.
A total of 6 tropical related tornadoes occurred across southeast Georgia into southeast South Carolina within rainbands associated with Idalia. One short-lived EF0 tornado occurred in Liberty County across southeast Georgia, mainly producing tree damage. Another EF0 tornado occurred in Charleston County across southeast South Carolina, downing/uprooting trees and producing minor roof damage to homes and vehicles in Mount Pleasant. Two waterspouts also shifted onshore along the northern end of Folly Beach in Charleston County, but were short-lived and caused no discernable damage. Two tornadoes occurred in Berkeley County across southeast South Carolina, one being an EF1 tornado that snapped/uprooted numerous trees along its path in the Francis Marion Forest and the second being a short-lived EF0 tornado that flipped a vehicle over on a highly traveled road in Goose Creek, SC. Two injuries resulted from the flipped vehicle. No fatalities occurred due to tornadoes across the area.