WEATHER SUMMARY
On Monday, a boundary from west to east divided the state with cool air and light showers to the north and warm conditions over the south. At noon, Darlington was reporting 48 degrees while at the same time Beaufort was indicating 84 degrees. Warming spread north through Wednesday, the first day of Spring 2002, with afternoon high temperatures over most sites in the upper 70's and lower 80's. Thursday saw a sharp change as a cold front pushed through the state with scattered thundershowers and a few reports of high winds. The accompanying rains temporarily cleansed the air of pollen. Temperatures dropped nearly twenty degrees and on Saturday morning a hard freeze was observed by central counties and the upstate. Southerly winds on Sunday helped temperatures rebound back into the 70's. For the period the state average temperature was near normal.
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA
The highest temperature was 89 degrees at Ridgeville on March 18. The lowest temperature was 22 degrees at Lake Bowen on the morning of March 23. The greatest 24-hour rainfall reported was 1.60" at Jefferies Hydro on the east end of Lake Moultrie ending at 7:00 a.m. on March 22. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.6".
Precipitation
Period 2002 Deviation* Temperature
Location Total Total From Avg. Maximum Minimum
Greer 0.65 9.81 3.1B 71 25
Columbia 0.70 6.94 5.2B 83 26
Florence 0.56 5.35 4.9B 82 27
Charleston 0.68 7.81 2.5B 87 31
N Myrtle Beach 0.10 5.35 4.9B 76 28
Augusta, Ga. 0.40 8.01 4.3B 85 27
*A=Above, B=Below
Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the period ending midnight Monday through midnight Sunday
SOIL
4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 59 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF
South Carolina river stages were below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 57 degrees.
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