WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2012

April 30 - May 6, 2012

WEATHER SUMMARY:

Clarks Hill and McCormick reached 92 degrees on a sunny and dry Monday. The month of April ended with Caesars Head measuring a thirty-day rainfall total of 7.90 inches, while a distant Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station measured only 0.53 inches. May began with a continuing trend of unseasonably high temperatures. Saluda and Kingstree warmed to 90 degrees on May 1 and Aiken and Pinopolis warmed to 92 degrees on May 2. On Wednesday morning, Summerville, Sandy Springs and the Georgetown AP cooled to 62 degrees. The Sandhill Experiment Station in Richland County reported a 24-hour open pan evaporation water loss of 0.30 inches. Showers developed on Friday over the south Midlands and moved northeast. Welcomed rains fell over Barnwell with 1.05 inches and at nearby Bamberg with 0.81 inches. Saturday was the state's hottest day since September 15, 2011. McCormick, Orangeburg and the Georgetown AP all reported a Saturday afternoon maximum temperature of 94 degrees. Late afternoon thunderstorms formed over the southern Piedmont and drifted east. Little Mountain received 0.74 inches of much needed rain. At 9:55 p.m., the Georgetown AP recorded a thunderstorm wind gust of 52 mph. Increased cloudiness on Sunday scaled back the heat. Florence, Sandhill and Chester noted a Sunday high temperature of just 80 degrees. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was nine degrees above normal.

The highest official temperature reported was 95 degrees at Kingstree AP, Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station, Columbia Metro AP, Johnston and Witherbee on May 5. The lowest official temperature reported was 54 degrees at Hunts Bridge on May 5. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 1.09 inches at McClellanville ending at 7:00 a.m. on May 6. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.2 inches.

PRECIPITATION:

                                    Precipitation
                            Weekly   Jan 1   Departure     
                            Total    Total    from Avg
         Greer AP            0.00    11.56     -4.8
      Anderson AP            0.00    10.95     -4.9
      Columbia Metro AP      0.24     8.95     -5.2
    Orangeburg AP            0.04     9.00     -5.9
 Charlotte, NC AP            0.00     9.14     -5.2
   Augusta, GA Bush AP       0.00     6.25     -9.1
      Florence AP            0.00    10.95     -1.7
N Myrtle Beach AP            0.46     8.92     -5.7
    Charleston AP            0.14     9.88     -4.0
  Savannah, GA AP            0.00     9.13     -4.7
                                                                                     
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.  

SOIL:

4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 76 degrees, Charleston 80 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF:

South Carolina river stages were below normal. Ocean water temperatures at nearby Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach, NC were reported at 72 degrees.