WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2016

October 3, 2016 - October 9, 2016

WEATHER SUMMARY:

Bishopville, Orangeburg and Sullivan's Island all warmed to 85 degrees on Monday. Clouds began increasing late in the day. Partial sun on Tuesday and northeast winds only allowed for a 77-degree high temperature at Kingstree and Moncks Corner. At noon on Wednesday, northeast winds gusting to 23 mph were reported at Anderson, Shaw AFB, Aiken and Myrtle Beach. The Conway AP noted a mild 73 degrees for its high temperature. Another partly sunny day on Thursday moved the temperature to 81 degrees at Clarks Hill, Whitmire and Columbia. At 5:00 p.m., a powerful Hurricane Matthew was positioned near Freeport, Grand Bahama Island and moving northwest. Overnight and into Friday morning, a warm front backed into the central coast with rains of 0.96 inches at N Myrtle Beach. At 7:00 a.m. on Friday, the outermost rain bands from "Matthew," located near Cape Canaveral, Florida, were approaching Beaufort County. At 10:00 a.m., the US Coast Guard Pilot closed the Charleston Harbor to traffic. The Fripp Nearshore buoy reported northeast winds gusting to 54 mph at 4:08 p.m. Hilton Head Island's AP 8:50 p.m. observation included heavy rain and north winds gusting to 63 mph. At 11:00 p.m., the National Hurricane Center, using Charleston NWS Doppler radar, placed the hurricane's center an estimated 40 miles southeast of Hilton Head Island and moving north at 12 mph. At 2:48 a.m. on Saturday morning, a maximum tide height of 9.289 feet occurred in the Charleston Harbor. At 3:55 a.m., north winds at Hilton Head Island AP gusted to hurricane force (74 mph) with "steep pressure falls." Rainfall measurements for the event had accumulated to 9.83 inches near Limehouse. Radar at 4:20 a.m. placed the eyewall over Hilton Head and Edisto Island. At 6:50 a.m., measured winds roared at 88 mph at the Hilton Head Island AP. Not since Hurricane Gracie back in 1959 had these conditions been witnessed over South Carolina's southern-most islands. The 8:50 a.m. "wave height" observation at Edisto Buoy indicated seas of 7.7 meters (25 feet). The Fort Sumter Range Light wind reached 80 mph at 10:06 a.m. At 11:00 a.m., the National Hurricane Center bulletin "landfalled" a Category 1 Hurricane Matthew at the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge near McClellanville. Torrential rains were up to 11.64 inches at Galivant's Ferry. Shortly after the noon hour, giant waves began breaking apart the Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach. High winds, drawn into the circulation, gusted to 67 mph at 2:21 p.m. over the Florence Regional AP with toppled trees described as "everywhere." Automated rainfall amounts for the event at Marion had climbed to 14.36 inches at 4:07 p.m. Windspeeds topped out at the Georgetown Winyah Bay Range Light at 4:24 p.m. with a gust of 103 mph. The Myrtle Beach International AP registered their peak wind of 74 mph at 5:15 p.m. The Saturday, October 8 calendar-day rainfall of 11.74 inches at Florence was their greatest one-day rainfall in over 120 years of record-keeping and bested the record rains of the "Bulls Bay Hurricane" in 1916 and "Hazel" in 1954. Multi-day heavy rain totals taken on Sunday morning included 15.06 inches in Mullins, 13.70 inches at Kingstree, 12.96 inches at Galivant's Ferry, 11.89 inches at Cottageville and 11.07 inches at Hilton Head. Under a clear blue sky on Sunday, the Little Pee Dee River at Galivant's Ferry and the Waccamaw River at Conway were in "Major Flood" and rising.

The highest official temperature reported was 91 degrees at Hilton Head Island AP on October 3. The lowest official temperature reported was 43 degrees at Jocassee 8WNW on October 9. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 13.94 inches at the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station ending at 8:00 a.m. on October 8. The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 5.2 inches. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was four degrees above the long-term average.

PRECIPITATION:

  Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Anderson AP 0.46 21.13 -13.1
Greer AP 0.44 29.66 -7.3
Charlotte, NC AP 2.78 29.76 -3.1
Columbia Metro AP 4.45 34.19 -2.3
Orangeburg AP 2.37 34.80 -3.6
Augusta, GA Bush AP 2.09 33.24 -2.0
Florence AP 12.76 55.46 20.3
N Myrtle Beach AP 9.38 53.41 10.5
Charleston AP 10.48 54.74 11.7
Savannah, GA AP 11.51 50.87 10.6

Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL:

4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton 69 degrees. Columbia 73 degrees. Barnwell 66 degrees. Mullins 65 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF:

South Carolina river stages were in flood (Pee Dee/N Coast) and much below normal (Upstate). Charleston Harbor reported a water temperature of 75 degrees. Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach is not available.