A saturated atmosphere produced areas of heavy rain on Monday. As early as 10:40 a.m., there were public reports of 6.25 inches of rain falling on the north side of Lake Wylie. Clusters of slow moving cells developed from Aiken into N Myrtle Beach. At around 5:00 p.m., the bottom fell out over Orangeburg. The USGS automated rain gage at highway 301, N Fork Edisto River recorded rainfall rates of up to 3.73 inches per hour and a calendar-day total of 8.82 inches. The 8.07 inches measured at the official NWS Cooperative site at the Orangeburg Water Treatment Plant was that location's third heaviest 24-hour rainfall since recordkeeping began in 1919. Much of Orangeburg County became a shallow lake. Runoff into the N Fork Edisto River caused a 4.83 foot rise that peaked at 7.53 feet on Tuesday morning and just shy of the 8 foot flood stage. A CoCoRaHS volunteer in Conway reported overnight rains of 5.45 inches. Although there were many reports of two-inch rains from the Piedmont to the beaches, both Greenwood observation sites recorded a dry Monday. Showers on Tuesday brought Monetta 1.81 inches of rain. A weakening wave of cooler air arrived for the Upstate on Wednesday morning. Hunts Bridge reported a minimum temperature of 63 degrees. The interaction between moist maritime air and the approaching boundary caused an intense downpour of 3.23 inches at the Georgetown AP. Conway and Kingstree reached 95 degrees on Thursday afternoon. Scattered thunderstorms over Rock Hill brought 2.39 inches of rain and Darlington received 1.79 inches. Most of the unsettled weather on Friday affected the coastal counties. At 2:58 p.m., golf ball-sized hailstones were observed near Surfside Beach in southern Horry County. Hilton Head Island was under a cloudburst near sunset on Friday evening that produced 5.58 inches of rain at the local island airport. McClellanville was drenched with 4.77 inches. Barnwell reported a Friday high temperature of 95 degrees. On Saturday morning, Table Rock State Park visitors had to notice an elevation-cooled sunrise temperature of 64 degrees. Elsewhere the heat was building. Saluda reached 96 degrees on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, Winnsboro and Columbia's
Hamilton-Owens AP baked under a sunny 98 degrees. Twenty-four hour open pan evaporation at Sandhill reached a season high 0.41 inches. Although the state's rain-bearing
coverage for the week was abundant, Anderson AP, Santuck, Winnsboro, Calhoun Falls and Jamestown all received less than one quarter of an inch of rain total. The state
average temperature for the seven-day period was two degrees above the long-term average.
The highest official temperature reported was 100 degrees at Columbia Metro AP and the Columbia USC Campus on July 27 and at Columbia Metro AP on July 27. The
lowest official temperature reported was 55 degrees at Jocassee 8WNW on July 26. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 8.07 inches at Orangeburg
(Water Treatment Plant) ending at 7:00 a.m. on July 21. The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 1.4 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Anderson AP 0.19 20.26 -5.1
Greer AP 0.68 26.41 -1.0
Charlotte, NC AP 1.54 28.51 4.7
Columbia Metro AP 0.86 22.90 -3.0
Orangeburg AP 4.66 31.07 3.6
Augusta, GA Bush AP 4.62 26.37 0.4
Florence AP 2.17 23.98 -0.5
N Myrtle Beach AP 0.56 21.67 -5.5
Charleston AP 0.72 26.20 -1.5
Savannah, GA AP 0.35 29.33 2.4
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 near normal. Charleston Harbor reported a water temperature of 85 degrees and Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach reported a surf water temperature of 84 degrees.
