Heat driven afternoon and evening scattered thunderstorms were observed all week. Tuesday's storms produced 1.75-inch diameter hail in Dorchester County and near 3-inch rainfalls in the West Ashley area of Charleston. Jamestown recorded 100 degrees on Wednesday. July 2008 ended with Edisto Beach measuring 12.64 inches of rain while Clemson AP measured only 1.48 inches. During the day on Thursday, a southeastward moving boundary caused heavy rains at Kiawah Island. Additional, and localized flooding rains (an unofficial 4.70 inches) fell on Seabrook Island Friday. At 6:59 p.m. Saturday, the Greer NWS recorded a wind gust of 64 mph and golf ball-sized hail fell on parts of Greenville County. The same complex of storms produced damaging high winds and hail over Darlington County. Night time skies were filled with lightning bolts. Near 100-degree high temperature readings were reported Saturday from the foothills to the coast. Sunday's weather included increasing humidity all across the state and continuing rain storms for those counties bordering the beaches. The state average temperature for the period was two degrees above normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 101 degrees at Saluda on August 2. The lowest official temperature reported was 63 degrees at Table Rock on the morning of July 29. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.08 inches at Darlington ending at 7:00 a.m. on August 3. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.9 inches.
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Greer 1.89 21.28 -9.8
Columbia 0.43 21.89 -8.4
Orangeburg 0.51 22.69 -7.6
Charlotte, NC 0.45 21.39 -4.7
Augusta, GA 1.18 21.98 -5.9
Florence 1.81 25.63 -1.7
N Myrtle Beach 1.05 28.65 3.2
Charleston 0.38 21.93 -8.4
Savannah, GA 1.85 23.79 -5.9
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
4-inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 84 degrees.
South Carolina river stages were below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 87 degrees.
