Dry weather started the week as a surface high pressure moved offshore of the Mid-Atlantic on Monday, January 8. Temperatures were slightly cooler than average, with lows in the upper 20s to low 30s and highs in the upper 40s to mid-50s.
The main weather story during the period was the intense storm that impacted the state on Tuesday, January 9. Area schools closed ahead of the event as wind gusts between 40 and 70 mph were measured across the state, with a wind gust of 69 mph measured at the National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Charleston International Airport. At one point, nearly 90,000 people were without power. Two confirmed tornadoes, including an EF2 with an estimated 125 mph winds, destroyed downtown Bamberg's buildings, and an EF1 was reported on the north side of Lake Murray. Rainfall totals north and west of the Fall Line ranged from two to five inches. Flash flooding was reported in Greenville, Lancaster, McCormick, Pickens, Spartanburg, and York counties.
The winds remained gusty behind the exiting storm system on Wednesday but gradually diminished throughout the day as high pressure built in over the region. Fair weather and dry conditions prevailed on Thursday, though high clouds streamed into the Southeast.
A strong storm system moved through the Ohio River Valley, pushing a warm front through the state on Friday afternoon, causing breezy conditions and warmer temperatures to areas outside of the Upstate. Daytime high temperatures struggled to reach the 50s along the Interstate 85 corridor but reached the upper 60s across the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions. Severe thunderstorms occurred during the evening hours as the cold front moved through the state but were not as intense or widespread as the event that happened early in the period. Rainfall totals ranged from half an inch to less than two inches across the state. Behind the cold front, drier conditions settled into the region and prevailed through the weekend.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 4.68 | 5.44 | 3.6 |
| Greer Airport | 5.30 | 6.44 | 4.5 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 3.44 | 4.52 | 2.9 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.56 | 2.13 | 0.5 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 2.07 | 2.92 | 1.2 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 1.66 | 2.37 | 0.6 |
| Florence Airport | 1.86 | 2.49 | 1.1 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.59 | 0.88 | -0.4 | Charleston Air Force Base | 1.39 | 1.87 | 0.4 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 1.92 | 2.86 | 1.5 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 42 degrees. Columbia: 50 degrees. Barnwell: 43 degrees. Mullins: 46 degrees.
Most locations recorded over an inch of rain during the period. Parts of the Midlands measured two to four inches, while portions of the Upstate recorded over five inches of rain, with a few stations in the state's highest elevations measuring weekly totals over six inches. The recent rainfall totals provided vast improvements to the drought conditions that have lingered in the state since November. On the January 11 release of the US Drought Monitor (USDM) map, the areas experiencing severe drought (D2) conditions decreased and were now confined to Abbeville County, while the spatial extent of the moderate drought (D1) conditions only remained in parts of the Upper Savannah River Basin. While the abnormally dry conditions persisted in some areas north of the Fall Line, these conditions improved across the Pee Dee
Rainfall over the period caused an increase in the 14-day average streamflow values across the Piedmont and Upstate, especially along streams and tributaries within the Broad, Catawba, and Saluda river basins. Most of the gauges in this region reported much above-normal flows, and some reported the highest 14-day streamflow value on record for the date range. Gauges south of the Fall Line recorded normal to above-normal streamflow values. Some river heights in the Upstate reached the minor and moderate flood stages, while other gauges across the state reported levels below the flood stage. However, water river heights started to rise by the end of the period as the water moved through the river basins.
