The thermometer warmed to 80 degrees on Monday for McEntire ANG AP, Lugoff, Cades and the Georgetown AP. Rains fell over the Upstate locations as a boundary remained "parked" from Oconee County and northeastward into York County. Twenty-four hour rainfall amounts ending Tuesday morning included 1.80 inches at Caesars Head and 1.40 inches at Table Rock. At 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, the Clemson AP reported "heavy rain" and 57 degrees while a distant and mostly sunny Charleston reported 77 degrees. Wednesday morning's additional rainfall totals indicated 2.48 inches at Long Creek and 1.95 inches at Jocassee Dam. Abundant sunshine at Conway, Andrews, Kingstree and Orangeburg pushed the Wednesday afternoon high temperature to 81 degrees. The sharp temperature gradient was further illustrated by a cloudy Rock Hill and Laurens only reaching 52 degrees on Wednesday. Rainfall coverage moved into the lower Piedmont through the day leaving 1.30 inches of rain at Lake Greenwood, 1.00 inches at Winnsboro and 0.98 inches at Newberry. At 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, Greenville reported "heavy rain," 50 degrees with northeast winds of 22 gusting to 36 mph. Thursday's continued soaking for portions of Oconee County left 2.61 inches at Clemson and 2.46 inches at Liberty in Pickens County. Table Rock recorded a Monday through Thursday rainfall total of 6.71 inches. A frontal boundary of colder and drier air swept through the state Thursday afternoon with high winds. Shaw AFB in Sumter recorded winds gusting to 44 mph. The 4:00 p.m. temperature of 56 degrees at Orangeburg was a 21-degree drop in two hours. Caesars Head observed the state's first "trace" of snow on Thursday night as just enough leftover moisture changed over to a fine, icy powder. Daytime temperatures on Friday returned back to seasonal readings in the 50's. On Saturday morning, the sunrise temperature fell to 24 degrees at Calhoun Falls, Saluda and Chesnee. On Sunday afternoon, the Kingstree and Charleston airports managed to reach 70 degrees and shared the state's warmest value. The state average temperature for the period was thirteen degrees above normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 84 degrees at Pinopolis on January 16. The lowest official temperature reported was 23 degrees at Ninety Nine Islands, Rock Hill AP, Chesterfield and Cedar Creek on January 19. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.98 inches at Sandy Springs ending at 7:00 a.m. on January 18. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.8 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Greer AP 3.03 3.95 1.5
Anderson AP 3.08 3.89 1.4
Columbia Metro AP 0.49 0.81 -1.5
Orangeburg AP 0.25 0.35 -2.0
Charlotte, NC AP 2.74 3.30 1.1
Augusta, GA Bush AP 0.20 0.29 -2.2
Florence AP 0.73 1.13 -1.0
N Myrtle Beach AP 0.35 0.43 -1.9
Charleston AP 0.06 0.20 -2.2
Savannah, GA AP 0.05 0.29 -2.2
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 56 degrees, Charleston 55 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 53 degrees.
