Christmas morning began at 23 degrees at Caesars Head, and under partly cloudy skies, the temperature reached 56 degrees at North Myrtle Beach. The weather observation station on Sassafras Mountain recorded 28 mph winds gusting to 43 mph as a dry cold front passed over the state on Monday. Benign, cool conditions continued Tuesday. Caesars Head, again, had the lowest temperature Tuesday morning temperature: 22 degrees.
An offshore low pressure system on Wednesday, December 27, set produced light rain state-wide. Florence collected 0.14 inches and North Myrtle Beach received nine-hundredths of an inch of rain. The National Weather Service offices in Greer, Columbia and Charleston reported a high temperature of 50 degrees. Cold, dry Arctic high pressure built in over the state late Wednesday. Caesars Head reported a Thursday morning low temperature of 18 degrees. On Thursday the high temperature in Greer and Rock Hill only reached 37 degrees after morning low temperatures of 25 and 24 degrees, respectively. Columbia's temperature reached 44 degrees Thursday.
Temperatures rebounded slightly Friday and into the weekend as dry conditions prevailed. Columbia reached 60 degrees Saturday after a morning low of 26 degrees. Sunday morning, the low temperature on Sassafras Mountain plunged to 14.5 degrees. Charleston's high temperature reached 49 degrees with 17 mph northeast winds gusting to 23 mph. The National Weather Service Office in Greer reported a trace of snowfall on the last day of 2017.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)
The highest official temperature reported was 62 degrees at Orangeburg on December 30.
The lowest official temperature reported was 14.5 degrees on Sassafras Mountain on December 31.
The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 0.30 inches at the Dillon COOP site for the period ending on December 28.
The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 0.1 inches.
| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 0.00 | 51.50 | 7.0 |
| Greer Airport | 0.00 | 53.11 | 5.9 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.00 | 44.69 | 3.1 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.06 | 47.44 | 2.9 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.09 | 38.64 | -8.1 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.13 | 44.96 | 1.4 |
| Florence Airport | 0.14 | 42.63 | -0.3 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.10 | 49.12 | -2.9 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.04 | 52.87 | 1.8 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.21 | 53.24 | 5.3 |
| *Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton 42 degrees. Columbia 48 degrees. Barnwell 41 degrees. Mullins 30 degrees
Upstate river stages were below normal to much below normal.
Midlands and Pee Dee river stages were below normal to much below normal .
Lowcountry river stages were normal.
Charleston Harbor water temperature: 49.5 degrees.
Fripp Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 52.5 degrees.
