Ana drenched Myrtle Beach area with more than 5 inches of rain

Ana soaked the Grand Strand during her brief visit during the weekend, according to preliminary statistics from the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.

A climate summary for Sunday from the North Myrtle Beach recording station showed that 5.14 inches of rain fell in the area. It was a departure of 5.04 inches of rain from the normal amount.

That puts the rainfall totals for the year to 19.44 inches, more than four inches above normal and eight inches above last year’s total, according to a climatological report.

Several low-lying areas in Horry County flooded and officials closed several North Myrtle Beach area roads because of high water during the weekend. Officials also reported some beach erosion, especially in the Cherry Grove area.

The record rainfall total for the area was set on Sept. 15, 1999, when 12.04 inches of rain was recorded during Hurricane Floyd, according to the weather service. There was no previous record rainfall event for May 10.

Ana made landfall at 6 a.m. Sunday midway between Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, according to the National Hurricane Center. It had sustained winds of 45 mph at the time of landfall.

Ana was first classified as a subtropical storm, but by 5 a.m. Saturday, forecasters had upgraded it to a tropical storm, according to the hurricane center. The storm formed Thursday night in the Atlantic off the coast of the Grand Strand.

The last time a subtropical storm formed before the start of the season was in 2012 with Beryl, officials said. The earliest storm to form, either subtropical or tropical, to form in the Atlantic was Ana of 2000.

The Atlantic hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 12:30 PM with the headline "Ana drenched Myrtle Beach area with more than 5 inches of rain."