WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2015

May 18 - May 24, 2015

WEATHER SUMMARY:

The Monday afternoon high temperature at Bennettsville's Marlboro County AP reached a hot 95 degrees. Isolated thunderstorms formed over the Upstate bringing very localized and temporary relief to dry conditions in that area. A CoCoRaHS volunteer observer near Salem recorded a heavy rain of 2.60 inches. Antreville measured 1.01 inches, and 0.95 inches fell at Travelers Rest. More widely spaced thundershowers came and went over the next few days. The Greenville Downtown AP received 1.64 inches of rain in one hour on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, intense rains of 0.97 inches fell within 40 minutes at Mt. Pleasant. A CoCoRaHS volunteer near the Shadowmoss community measured 3.88 inches of rain, the majority of which occurred between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. Hartsville baked under a Wednesday afternoon high temperature of 95 degrees. West winds helped drive a boundary of slightly cooler, drier air into the state on Thursday. At 4:00 p.m., the Marion County AP reported 88 degrees with west winds gusting to 30 mph. Edisto Beach and Hilton Head Island both reported a warm 91 degrees. A lone shower left 0.18 inches of rain in Chesterfield. Open pan evaporation at Barnwell spiked at a 24-hour water loss of 0.43 inches. The Friday and Saturday morning low temperatures were cold for the date. Sassafras Mt. recorded 42 degrees at 5:42 a.m. on Friday. Walhalla experienced a 37-degree temperature fall from a Thursday maximum temperature of 84 degrees to a Friday minimum of 47 degrees. Aiken and Newberry each noted an overnight temperature fall of 34 degrees. Saluda and Aiken cooled to 57 degrees. Bamberg, Barnwell and Jamestown all reached 82 degrees on Friday afternoon or just a couple of degrees below the date's average high temperature. Bishopville and Hartsville shared a Saturday morning low temperature of 48 degrees. Clarks Hill reported Saturday's warmest temperature at 86 degrees. At 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Spartanburg, Orangeburg, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head Island all reported 81 degrees. The May 1 through May 24 period has left several locations with less than one-tenth of an inch of rain. Walhalla has measured no rain. Only 0.01 inches has fallen at Saluda, 0.04 inches at Catawba, 0.05 inches at Hartsville and 0.08 inches in Chester. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was two degrees above the long-term average.

The highest official temperature reported was 96 degrees at Barnwell on May 20. The lowest official temperature reported was 41 degrees at Jocassee 8WNW on May 22. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.20 inches at the Greenville-Spartanburg AP on May 18. The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 0.3 inches.

PRECIPITATION:

  Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Anderson AP 0.66 14.33 -3.3
Greer AP 2.26 18.05 -0.5
Charlotte, NC AP 0.00 14.15 -2.0
Columbia Metro AP 0.00 15.88 0.1
Orangeburg AP 0.36 15.26 -1.3
Augusta, GA Bush AP 0.29 15.19 -1.5
Florence AP 0.67 14.82 0.4
N Myrtle Beach AP 0.53 20.06 3.6
Charleston AP 0.44 15.22 -0.3
Savannah, GA AP 0.20 17.27 1.9

Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL:

4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 77 degrees, Charleston 78 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF:

South Carolina river stages were below normal. Charleston Harbor reported a water temperature of 77 degrees and Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach reported a surf water temperature of 76 degrees.