Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Wadmalaw Island, SC

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Edisto Is Middleton Plantation, SC, 9 miles west of Wadmalaw Island at 12 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 74°F; January is the coolest, at 59°F and 40°F. August is the wettest at 7.5 inches of precipitation on average and November the driest at 2.6 inches; the year adds up to 52.1 inches over 70 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 60% of the year's precipitation (31.4 of 52.1 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 107 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (33); a normal September there has highs of 85°F and 5.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 74 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 16 nights a year. That 52.1 inches is more than at 62 of the 78 South Carolina stations used on this site (79%). Johns Island, 7 miles northeast, has its own station (Charleston City, SC): 44.5 inches a year, 7.6 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 90°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Charleston, SC, 17 miles northeast, averaged 86°F in July and 54°F in January over 2021–2025. It averaged 80°F or warmer from June to September. Sea level at the Charleston tide gauge, 17 miles from Wadmalaw Island, has risen 1.38 ± 0.04 inches per decade from 1901 to 2025, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 13.8 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 82 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 117 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Wadmalaw Island: 101 thunderstorm wind reports, 12 flash floods, 3 lightning strikes and 1 heavy rain event. None is recorded as killing or injuring anyone; the NWS estimated $4.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on April 5, 2022. October has had the most flash floods, 7 of 12. Of the 241 South Carolina cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 142 have had fewer than Wadmalaw Island.

Flood insurance policyholders in Wadmalaw Island's ZIP code 29487 have filed 30 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1989, and were paid $60,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Hugo in 1989: 14 claims (47% of all) and $667. 73% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 110 South Carolina cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 39 have fewer than Wadmalaw Island.