SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

March 17 - 23, 2003

WEATHER SUMMARY

The Winter season ended wet with daily rainfalls and warming temperatures. On Tuesday, early morning fog preceded afternoon rains. A large area of convergence developed over the Southeast states on Wednesday and started a pattern of storms which brought hail, high winds, flash and river flooding. The official start of Spring occurred Thursday evening but not before heavy rainfalls of between two and four inches were measured across the upstate and midlands. Slow clearing took place on Friday from west to east with only the coastal counties observing passing showers. Westerly winds helped warm inland sites into the upper 70's and lower 80's. Sunny, warm weather returned on Saturday and Sunday. The average statewide temperature for the period was three degrees above normal

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 82 degrees at USC in Columbia on March 21. The lowest temperature was 39 degrees at Hunts Bridge on the morning of March 17. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 4.27" at Clemson ending at 7:00 a.m. on March 20. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 2.8".

                   Precipitation
               Period   2003     Deviation*         Temperature
Location        Total  Total      From Avg.     Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            4.01  11.99          0.7B        71          42        
Columbia         2.43  12.02          0.0A        79          44
Florence         2.24   7.66          2.5B        79          47      
Charleston       3.31  10.42          0.2A        80          52
N Myrtle Beach   3.90  10.79          0.7A        75          50
Augusta, Ga.     3.41  12.58          0.4A        80          44
A=Above, B=Below                                                         

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the 24-hour period ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 62 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were reported above normal with many above flood stage.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 59 degrees.