WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2011

April 4, 2011 - April 10, 2011

WEATHER SUMMARY:

South winds gusted to 52 mph at the Greenville-Spartanburg AP on Monday evening, ahead of a strong cold front. Squall lines began forming in Oconee County around midnight and moving to the southeast. The Anderson AP recorded winds gusting to 65 mph and at 3:55 a.m., the Columbia AP measured a wind gust of 75 mph. Trees were toppled and electrical service was disrupted. Cleveland received one of the heavier rainfall amounts of 1.33 inches. On Wednesday morning, patchy to scattered frost was observed from within central South Carolina and northward across the Piedmont. The thermometers at the Florence AP, the Marlboro County AP, the Kingstree AP and the Hartsville AP all reported a low temperature of 32 degrees. Slow warming began on Thursday with both Holly Hill and Summerville reaching 80 degrees. Sunny weather on Friday helped Effingham and Beaufort warm to 86 degrees. Dillon's Saturday afternoon temperature of 68 degrees was in sharp contrast to the 88 degrees at Clemson and reflected a boundary that would produce stormy weather and multiple, large hail episodes into Saturday night. Golf ball-sized hailstones fell within Pickens, Anderson, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Lancaster, Fairfield, Lee and Florence counties. Baseball to tennis ball-sized hail was reported within Darlington, Sumter and Berkeley counties. Parts of York County were bombarded with hailstones measuring up to 4 inches in diameter. Many automobiles had their windshields broken and there was extensive damage to early field crops and orchards throughout the hail path. The Bishopville USGS site received 1.97 inches of rain as the storm cells raced eastward into the Pee Dee. The Quinby community reported a downpour of 1.40 inches. Sunday's high temperatures ranged from 66 degrees at Sumter to 88 degrees at Aiken. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was six degrees above normal.

The highest official temperature reported was 92 degrees at Bamberg and Barnwell on April 9. The lowest official temperature reported was 26 degrees at Jocassee on April 6. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.10 inches at Hartsville ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 10. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.7 inches.

PRECIPITATION:

                            Precipitation                                                      
                       Weekly   Jan 1   Departure     
                        Total   Total   from Avg
         Greer           0.96   14.44     -0.8
      Anderson           0.95   12.62     -2.2
      Columbia           0.59   10.50     -3.7
    Orangeburg           0.66   10.85     -3.3
 Charlotte, NC           1.66   10.98     -2.0
   Augusta, GA           0.47   12.34     -2.0
      Florence           1.22   10.09     -2.0
N Myrtle Beach           0.64    9.95     -2.0
    Charleston           0.27    8.05     -4.1
  Savannah, GA           0.60   10.78     -0.9
                                          
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.  

SOIL:

4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 67 degrees, Charleston 69 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF:

South Carolina river stages were near normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 64 degrees.