SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

April 1 - 7, 2002

WEATHER SUMMARY

Bright, sunny and warm days were observed over the first half of the week. Mid-80 degree afternoon temperatures made it feel as though Spring had surely arrived for good. In contrast, a boundary of much cooler air slowly passed through the state on Thursday with only a few light sprinkles reported. Afternoon temperatures fell nearly twenty-five degrees as clouds were slow to clear and a steady northeast breeze added to the chill. Early morning temperatures on Sunday provided pockets of isolated frost and were limited mostly to the upstate. For the period, the state average temperature was near normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature was 89 degrees at Jamestown on April 3. The lowest temperature was 28 degrees at Salem on the morning of April 7. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was 2.84" at Sumter ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 1. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.6".

                     Precipitation
               Period    2002     Deviation*        Temperature
Location        Total   Total      From Avg.      Maximum   Minimum	
Greer            0.00   11.36        3.5B            83       36                       	              	
Columbia         0.01    7.92        6.0B            86       41
Florence         0.00    7.65        4.2B            86       35	        
Charleston       0.00    9.09        2.8B            85       41
N Myrtle Beach   0.08    6.08        5.6B            77       38
Augusta, Ga.     0.01    8.69        5.3B            87       34
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 65 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 63 degrees.