After a cool Monday morning, temperatures began a steep climb into the middle and upper 80's before day's end. Pickens, at an elevation of 1162 feet reported a high temperature of 88 degrees. Walhalla's 94 degrees on Tuesday was their warmest start to May in recordkeeping, going back over 100 years. Open pan evaporation continued high, peaking at 0.46 inches at Sandhill on Wednesday, May 2. A southward moving boundary of cooler air entered the state Thursday with lower temperatures along the northeast counties. Showers developed along the front but were mostly located within the Pee Dee communities. A strong thunderstorm cell dropped 1.75 inch diameter hail near Patrick in Chesterfield County. Quinby received 1.85 inches of rain in a separate storm. More wet weather continued into Saturday with a few high elevation thunderstorms before breaks began appearing during the evening. Mostly sunny skies were observed on Sunday. Over the weekend, brisk winds made for a noticeable chill that combined with afternoon high temperatures in the 70's. The state average temperature for the period was three degrees above normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 95 degrees at Cheraw on May 1 and May 3. The lowest official temperature reported was 42 degrees at Walhalla Hatchery on the morning of April 30. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 1.90 inches at Anderson AP ending at 7:00 a.m. on May 6. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.6 inches.
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Deviation
Total Total From Avg
Greer 1.30 13.91 -4.4
Columbia 0.04 10.56 -6.0
Orangeburg 0.08 13.77 -3.8
Charlotte, NC 0.33 15.00 -0.6
Augusta, GA 0.21 10.90 -5.8
Florence 1.14 11.36 -3.1
Myrtle Beach 0.05 8.12 -5.4
Charleston 0.44 8.41 -6.1
Savannah, GA 0.15 7.08 -7.4
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
4-inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 71 degrees.
South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 67 degrees.
For additional information contact tylerw@dnr.sc.gov or by calling (803) 734-9100.
