Hot, humid weather was reported everyday of the work week. Monday's early morning fog at McEntire ANG AP reduced visibilities to "zero". Clarks Hill and Manning reached 97 degrees on Monday afternoon. Isolated thunderstorms brought Allendale an inch of rain. Pelion and the Columbia USC Campus baked under a Tuesday high temperature of 103 degrees. "Steam bath" conditions were observed Wednesday along the coastal counties. Myrtle Beach, Charleston and Beaufort started the day with a sunrise low temperature of just 81 degrees and relative humidity as high as 94 percent. At 3:00 p.m., FAA AWOS instruments at the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport recorded 99 degrees over an 82-degree dewpoint, yielding a heat index value of 124 degrees. This is the state's unofficial highest accepted observed heat index value. The Johns Island AP and Hilton Head AP both indicated a peak heat index value of 121 degrees. Thunderstorm cloud tops reached as high as 65 thousand feet on Wednesday afternoon. Storms over the Aiken AP produced winds of 59 mph. At 2:00 p.m., the Hamilton-Owens AP in Columbia observation was partly sunny and 98 degrees followed by a 3:00 p.m. observation of heavy rain and 82 degrees. The Rock Hill AP received 2.09 inches of rain and Clarks Hill measured 1.60 inches. A southward-moving boundary of cooler and drier air entered the state on Thursday. Pockets of heavy rain were concentrated over the southern counties. During the predawn hours of Friday morning, the saturated atmosphere over Beaufort unloaded with torrential rains. The Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station measured 3.17 inches of rain in one hour that included a peak rate of 0.94 inches in twelve minutes. Edisto Beach was soaked with an event total of 3.96 inches. Unseasonably cool air replaced the tropical conditions for the weekend. Many locations cooled into the 60's on Saturday morning. Rock Hill's high temperature on Saturday was a late September-like 80 degrees. Hartsville, Marion, Dillon and Kingstree reported a Sunday minimum temperature of 64 degrees. Mostly sunny blue skies and warm upper 80-degree temperatures were observed on Sunday afternoon. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was three degrees above normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 104 degrees at Lake Wateree on July 13. The lowest official temperature reported was 58 degrees at Jocassee on July 17. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 5.34 inches at the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station ending at 7:00 a.m. on July 15. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Greer 1.07 25.22 -3.3
Anderson 0.28 19.53 -6.8
Columbia 0.01 22.02 -5.2
Orangeburg 0.00 19.41 -7.7
Charlotte, NC 0.52 22.34 -1.7
Augusta, GA 3.12 21.44 -4.2
Florence 0.10 17.42 -6.9
N Myrtle Beach 0.01 16.59 -5.9
Charleston 1.65 19.34 -7.5
Savannah, GA 1.00 20.91 -5.2
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 82 degrees, Charleston 84 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 83 degrees.
