SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

January 13 - 19, 2003

WEATHER SUMMARY

Cold, high pressure dominated the early week with daytime high temperatures in the 40's and 50's. On Thursday morning an upper air feature crossed eastward into cold air with snow falling from the mountains into the northern midlands. Landrum, S.C., located in the upstate mountains, reported four inches of snow while flurries fell on Pageland. Arctic air followed the winter weather with the coldest low temperatures of the season. On Saturday morning, single digit observations were noted in the state's higher elevations. Charleston City reported its first freeze of the winter. Although the weekend was mostly sunny, gusting northwest winds made for uncomfortable wind chills. The average statewide temperature for the period was nine degrees below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 63 degrees at Beaufort on January 14. The lowest temperature was 5 degrees at Caesars Head on the morning of January 18. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 0.50"at Anderson ending at 7:00 a.m. on January 17. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.1."

                      Precipitation
                  Period    2003   Deviation*        Temperature
Location	   Total   Total   From Avg.      Maximum   Minimum	
Greer               0.30    0.76       2.0B          57       13                      	         Columbia            0.18    0.23       2.6B          58       16
Florence            0.02    0.30       2.2B          54       17	        
Charleston          0.02    0.28       2.2B          59       23
N Myrtle Beach      0.10    0.81       1.4B          57       20
Augusta, Ga.        0.13    0.23       2.5B          59       14
A=Above, B=Below                                           
             
                                                                                                                          

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the 24-hour period ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 44 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages range from near to above normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 47 degrees.