Weather, laws, events & traffic: Myrtle Beach-area guide to Memorial Day weekend
Memorial Day weekend is an exciting – and sometimes chaotic – affair in the Myrtle Beach area, with festivals, crowds and celebrations.
For visitors and locals alike, planning ahead and staying informed can keep the holiday weekend running smoothly without fines or delays. From weather and events to law enforcement and traffic, here’s what to know in the Grand Strand this Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day weekend weather
Meteorologists at the National Weather Service’s Wilmington, North Carolina, office predict this Memorial Day weekend will bring moderate May temperatures, partly cloudy skies and possible rain in the Myrtle Beach area. For most of the holiday weekend, those outdoors can expect a 40% to 50% chance of rain and temperatures ranging from the low 70s at night to the mid 80s in the day.
Friday is expected to be partly sunny with a chance of thunderstorms, with highs in the lower 80s and a 30% chance of rain. Showers are most likely in the morning. The night is forecasted to be mostly cloudy with lows in the lower 70s and a 50% chance of rain.
Cloudy skies are expected to continue into Saturday morning, then become partly sunny with possible rain and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. The Grand Strand can expect highs in the mid 80s with a 50% chance of precipitation. Meteorologists predict Saturday night will be mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of rain and lows in the lower 70s.
Again, on Sunday, the Myrtle Beach area is forecasted to see highs in the mid 80s with a 50% chance of rain. Like Saturday, the mostly cloudy morning is expected to turn partly sunny in the afternoon.
Meteorologists call for mostly cloudy skies with a 40% chance of rain Sunday night into Memorial Day. Temperatures are expected to range from lows in the lower 70s to highs in the mid 80s.
Major Memorial Day weekend events
The long weekend will be packed with events across the Grand Strand, none more well-known than the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Black Pearl Cultural Heritage and Bike Festival. Bikers are already roaring through the area, particularly around Atlantic Beach.
In Myrtle Beach, the city is hosting a free Festive Brass Concert 7 p.m. Friday at the General Robert H. Reed Recreation Center to honor veterans.
The next morning at 10 a.m., Myrtle Beach’s military appreciation America 250: Red, White, and Remember Parade will be in the Market Common. The parade will begin at Johnson Avenue, traveling down Farrow Parkway and concluding at Phillis Boulevard. After the parade, attendees can enjoy a free family picnic at Grand Park with live music and historical reenactments.
The Myrtle Beach main event will be in the Market Common on Memorial Day itself, with the Jack Platt Veterans’ March with Battlefield Cross Ceremony kicking off at 9:30 a.m. along Farrow Parkway from Valor Memorial Garden to Warbird Park. Following the march, Warbird Park will host the Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony and Vietnam Memorial Grand Opening at 11 a.m.
Further south, Surfside Beach will host its own Memorial Day celebration, with its Surfside Beach Memorial Day Golf Cart Parade at 11 a.m. Monday. The parade route runs south on Ocean Boulevard from 16th Avenue North to Melody Lane. That afternoon, the town will have its Surfside Beach Memorial Day Service at 2 p.m. in Memorial Park.
Memorial Day weekend traffic
With crowds of tourists, locals enjoying the holiday weekend and bikers from around the country converging on the Grand Strand, roads around the Myrtle Beach area will be busy this Memorial Day. In preparation for the influx, both Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach are implementing special traffic patterns and road closures.
North Myrtle Beach will manage traffic – especially bike fest traffic – with a traffic chute and side-street closures in the Atlantic Beach area, starting Thursday night through Monday.
The chute, which will direct festivalgoers into Atlantic Beach and separate festival traffic, will start around 37th Avenue South on Highway 17 and end around 27th Avenue South on Highway 17. The far-right northbound lane will be blocked off with barricades, and drivers who enter the barricaded area at 37th Avenue South will have to do a loop through Atlantic Beach and exit around 27th Avenue South.
“If you’re not looking to go to the festival, stay in the left-hand lanes, and you’ll be good to go,” said North Myrtle Beach Police Lt. Charlie Diez.
Officers from NMBPD will also be out directing traffic in the area. Side streets between Ocean Boulevard and Highway 17 will also be closed to through traffic and, in the area around 27th Avenue South, some roads will be closed off with barricades.
From Friday through Monday, the Myrtle Beach Police Department will also prohibit all golf carts, except police vehicles, south of 29th Avenue North along Ocean Boulevard.
The city is also bringing back its downtown flushing for Memorial Day weekend. From 6 a.m. Friday morning to 6 p.m. Monday evening, motor traffic will be limited to southbound lanes of Ocean Boulevard between 29th Avenue North through South Kings Highway.
Although Chester Street, Withers Drive and Yaupon Drive will be closed to cut-through traffic, drivers will be able to access Ocean Boulevard to go southbound along Kings Highway at a number of intersecting roads.
Drivers should also be prepared for Myrtle Beach’s military appreciation parade, which will divert traffic on Farrow Parkway in the Market Common on Saturday morning.
Memorial Day weekend police presence
Law enforcement agencies across the Grand Strand will show out with increased police presence this weekend, so it’s a good idea to be mindful of noise and avoid disorderly conduct.
North Myrtle Beach police will be enforcing its new ordinance, which targets disruptive gatherings by allowing emergency responders and law enforcement officers to shut down parties deemed nuisances and address obstructions.
If a party creates a disturbance or safety concern and is determined to be a nuisance, it must cease immediately and non-residents must leave. Potential issues that could make a party a nuisance include public urination or defecation, illegal open containers of alcohol, illegal sale or consumption of alcohol, illegal substance use and public indecency. Other nuisances include excessive noise, unlawful littering and property damage without the owner’s consent.
When a responder or officer identifies an obstruction, like parked vehicles impeding traffic or emergency access, they can also order the person responsible must immediately cease, remove or relocate it
In Myrtle Beach, minors and their guardians should also be aware of the city’s curfew for those under 18. Across Myrtle Beach, a curfew is in place for unaccompanied minors from midnight to 6 a.m.
The curfew is stricter in the downtown area, where minors can’t be out unaccompanied from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. The impacted area stretches east of Kings Highway from Sixth Avenue South to 21st Avenue North, as well as a small extension of west Kings Highway to Broadway Street from Seventh Avenue North to Ninth Avenue North.