WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2011

August 22, 2011 - August 28, 2011

WEATHER SUMMARY:

The Clemson Airport, Sandy Springs, McCormick and Aiken each reported a Monday high temperature of 99 degrees. An eastward-moving frontal boundary passed through the state during the early evening hours and produced hailstones measuring 1.75 inches in diameter near Goose Creek. On Tuesday morning, Ft. Moultrie had received one of the heaviest rainfall totals with 3.00 inches. Chesnee cooled to 57 degrees. Mostly sunny weather was observed for inland South Carolina on Wednesday. At around 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, clouds within the outflow boundary of Hurricane Irene, located well offshore of southeast Florida, were entering South Carolina's Lowcountry. At 6:06 p.m., the surf water temperature at Springmaid Pier reached its highest of the season at 86.9 degrees. Showers began rotating into Cape Romain on Friday morning. At 8:00 a.m., Hurricane Irene was still a distant 315 miles south-southeast of Myrtle Beach. At 11:00 a.m., the Charleston City peninsula reported northeast winds of 30 mph, gusting to 48 mph. Winds at Folly Beach gusted to 55 mph. Breaking waves, estimated at 10 feet, produced beachfront property overwash at Edisto Beach, Fripp Island and Folly Beach. The Charleston Harbor tide gage measured an observed peak high water of 7.64 feet which was 1.73 feet above the predicted value. Further up the coast, the events highest windspeed was measured at Springmaid Pier with a gust from the north-northeast of 62 mph at 5:12 p.m. Although Hurricane Irene passed approximately 150 miles to the east of Myrtle Beach, a minimum barometric pressure value of 29.22 inches of mercury was recorded at the N Myrtle Beach Airport on August 27 at 4:00 a.m. The core of heavy rainfall was limited to the north coastal counties. The Crabtree Swamp gage, near Conway, measured 2.79 inches. The state's Saturday high temperature was 98 degrees at the Clemson and Columbia Hamilton-Owens airports. Sunny, dry conditions and middle to upper 90-degree heat ended the week. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was four degrees above normal.

The highest official temperature reported was 100 degrees at Johnston on August 22. The lowest official temperature reported was 55 degrees at Table Rock on August 27. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.20 inches at Dillon ending at 7:00 a.m. on August 22. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.2 inches.

PRECIPITATION:

                                                 
                              Precipitation                                                    
                       Weekly   Jan 1   Departure     
                        Total   Total    from Avg
         Greer           0.00   28.74     -3.4
      Anderson           0.06   22.72     -6.5
      Columbia           0.00   27.54     -4.0
    Orangeburg           0.00   27.92     -4.9
 Charlotte, NC           0.00   29.18      1.0
   Augusta, GA           0.01   23.52     -7.0
      Florence           0.50   21.42     -8.6
N Myrtle Beach           3.79   23.64    -11.0
    Charleston           1.49   29.40     -5.5
  Savannah, GA           0.07   26.07     -7.7

Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.  

SOIL:

4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 83 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.