SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

Cloudy to partly sunny weather ended the year across South Carolina. Near normal temperatures were reported over New Year's Day. A slow moving, Arctic type cold front collided with warm moist air on strong southerly winds Saturday. Upstate counties were coated with freezing rain and high temperatures held at around 32 degrees. Widespread damage to trees and electrical power failure occurred. At 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Greenville was observing freezing rain, 28 degrees with a wind chill value of one below zero. At the same time, counties over eastern sections were reporting rainshowers and temperatures as high as the mid 60's. Brief thunderstorms along with gusting winds near 40 mph were noted late Saturday night and early Sunday morning as the front passed eastward into the Atlantic. Clearing skies and falling temperatures Sunday afternoon signaled much colder weather on the way for the first full week of January. Statewide temperatures for the week averaged two degrees below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The maximum observed temperature was 70 degrees on January 3 at Jamestown and Charleston AP. The minimum observed temperature was 18 degrees at Cedar Creek on the morning of January 1. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was 1.95 inches at Kershaw ending 7:00 a.m. on January 3. Statewide rainfall for the period averaged 1.6 inches.

               Precipitation
               Period     1999     Deviation*         Temperature
Location       Total      Total     From Avg.     Maximum    Minimum   
Greer           1.50       1.3        0.9A          51         26 
Charlotte, NC   1.53       1.3        1.0A          52         22 
Columbia        0.88       0.9        0.5A          57         25    
Florence FAA    1.21       1.2        0.9A          69         29
Blackville      1.11       1.1        0.7A          60         23
Augusta, GA     0.80       0.8        0.4A          59         23 
Beaufort        0.77       0.8        0.4A          67         32 
Charleston AP   1.11       1.0        0.7A          70         29
Myrtle Beach    0.50       0.5        0.1A          65         30

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the prior 24-hrs ending 7:00 a.m. Monday through ending 7:00 a.m. Sunday

ENERGY DEMAND AND AGRICULTURAL ADVISORY

                 Degree Days      
                    Actual  
                 December 1-31
              Cooling   Heating             
Columbia        16        412
Charleston      26        301
Greenville       4        518

RIVERS AND SURF

Rivers are near normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 51 degrees.