On Monday, January 11, low pressure along the Gulf Coast helped increase rain chances across the Southeast, with most of the rain falling during the late afternoon and overnight. Persistent cloud cover over the region kept temperatures about ten degrees below normal, with morning lows in the upper 20s to mid-30s and daytime temperatures in the 40s and lower-50s. The storm system pushed off the Southeast coast on Tuesday morning, and lingering showers gave way to sunshine and temperatures rose into the 50s across the state.
During the period, the significant weather event occurred on Wednesday, January 13, as onshore winds and lingered moisture created a cold air damming event across the Midlands. The National Weather Service Office in Columbia issued a dense fog advisory that lasted until noon due to the persistent fog. Unfortunately, a small engine plane crashed into a neighborhood in Columbia while trying to land at Columbia Owens Downtown Airport. The airport reported dense fog, with visibility near zero and low cloud ceiling heights around the time of the crash. These weather conditions likely contributed to the crash. High temperatures in the Midlands were close to fifteen degrees below normal as the mercury struggled to climb into the low 40s. The maximum temperature at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport was 43 degrees, while the station at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport was 55 degrees, and the Charleston International Airport reported a high of 52 degrees. Late Wednesday evening, a trained storm spotter reported sleet on Hilton Head Island.
High tide along the coast was more elevated than predicted due to the onshore winds and new moon cycle. The tidal gauge in the Charleston Harbor reached 7.0 ft MLLW on Monday morning, 7.05 ft on Tuesday morning, and 7.02 ft on Wednesday morning. There were a few reports of minor saltwater flooding in downtown Charleston and low-lying areas along the coast.
The temperatures on Thursday and Friday were near normal, with lows in the upper-20s to upper-30s, and highs in the mid- to upper-50s. A cold front crossed the area on Friday, and with the limited moisture, the fast-moving system produced light rain in the region. By Saturday, the cold front cleared the state, allowing colder, drier air to rush into the state. During the morning, the windy conditions caused wind chills in the 20s and prompted the local National Weather Services offices across the region to issue Wind Advisories. Sustained winds were as high as 30 mph, with gusts up to 45 mph. At Fort Sumter, a WeatherFlow station recorded a non-thunderstorm wind gust of 42 mph, and the NWS station at the Charleston International Airport recorded a maximum gust of 40 mph. With high pressure in place over the weekend, overnight low temperatures were in the upper-20s to mid-30s, with daytime high temperatures reaching the upper-40s to low-50s. A few locations in the Upstate reported a trace of snow on Sunday, including the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport.
(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 | 0.15 | 2.45 | 0.4 |
| Greer Airport | 0.13 | 2.13 | 0.0 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.19 | 1.67 | -0.2 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.73 | 4.28 | 2.4 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.46 | 2.80 | 0.8 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.45 | 3.00 | 0.9 |
| Florence Airport | 1.01 | 4.19 | 2.4 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.70 | 2.42 | 0.5 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.66 | 1.75 | -0.3 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.39 | 0.94 | -1.0 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 44 degrees. Columbia: 47 degrees. Barnwell: 39 degrees. Mullins: 40 degrees.
Rainfall was limited during the period. Less than half an inch of rain fell across the Palmetto State, and portions of the Upstate reported less than a tenth of an inch. Some portions of the Midlands and Pee Dee along the Interstate 20 corridor recorded up to an inch of rain. The Lowcountry's lack of rainfall did not improve to the abnormally dry conditions that persist in Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, and Jasper counties.
Streamflow gauges in the area that recorded the most rain over the period continued to report much above normal values. Elsewhere across the state, most of the gauges measured normal flow, though many in the Upstate recorded streamflow values above normal. Despite the rain, most of the Upstate rivers remained below flood stage, and those south and east of the Fall Line continued to drop from minor flood stage as water moved through the system slowly.
