Hurricane Ophelia’s ramblings over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Florida during the past few days have charted a course that could take it into the South Carolina Lowcountry early next week.

But before then, the storm is expected to continue moving toward the northeast through the first part of the weekend.

The projection then has it turning sharply toward the northwest Sunday.

A possible landfall would be sometime Monday or Tuesday somewhere between Charleston and Beaufort.

After days of poor steering currents, National Weather Service forecasters say a mid-level trough of low pressure is responsible for the northeasterly track of Ophelia.

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The storm’s direction, however, will soon take a turn toward the U.S. coast as it falls under the effects of building a high-pressure dome over the Northeast, the clockwise flow from which will serve to coax Ophelia westward.

WBTW News13 Chief Meteorologist Don Luehrs said how much rain the Pee Dee can expect from Ophelia depends largely on what course the storm takes after that.

The first rain bands could begin streaming across the region as early as Monday.

The latest computer model tracks show Ophelia making another sharp turn and accelerating to the northeast Tuesday after landfall, a prediction that could likely bring the storm’s remnants across the Pee Dee later that day and evening along with some significant rainfall.

Luehrs said that, as with most such storms, the final track of Ophelia is still up for grabs and is still subject to significant changes, including wind strength.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “If it does change, I think it’s more likely to change northward than south. I think it’s going to be a Category 1 or 2, perhaps 90 or 100 miles an hour.”

The Associated Press reported on Friday that some of the effects of the storm were already being felt.

Waves and tides have swept away as much as 5 feet of sand from the eroding beach at Hunting Island State Park near Beaufort according to the AP.

“If it sits out there, you just keep getting pounded at every high tide,” Bill Eiser, an oceanographer with the state’s Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, told the AP.

The National Weather Service also warned of a high risk of rip currents.

Ophelia is the 15th named storm of the active 2005 hurricane season.

A new report released last week by the tropical weather research team at Colorado State University says hurricane activity through September and October is expected to remain above “climatological averages.”

The report also said the chances of hurricane landfall somewhere along the U.S. coastline during this period are above average.

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