On Monday, January 24, dry and sunny conditions set up the start of a relatively quiet weather pattern during the workweek. Morning lows in the upper 20s to low 30s rose into the mid to upper 50s across the state. A surface low south of the region and a cold front approaching the area caused increasing clouds across the region on Tuesday. Some light rain was observed in parts of the Lowcountry, but amounts were less than a tenth of an inch.
By Wednesday morning, the cold front had moved through the state. As high pressure settled into the region, strong northeast winds brought another shot of cool air into the Southeast. Most locations reported highs between five and ten degrees below normal, with stations reaching only the upper 40s to low 50s. Under clear skies, overnight lows dropped into the mid-20s by Thursday morning, and with cold air in place, daytime temperatures remained in the upper 40s, though some coastal locations reached the low 50s. The high pressure started to weaken during the day and eventually shifted offshore.
The main weather story for the period occurred on Friday, as a low-pressure system strengthened offshore and brought moisture into the state's eastern half. The moisture started as rain but transitioned to snow as cold air moved into the region. There was little to no freezing rain and sleet with this event. By late Friday evening, snow showers started across the Catawba area to portions of the Midlands, and snow and sleet were reported near Prosperity and Lake Murray. Overnight, snow accumulated in the interior Lowcountry and Pee Dee. By morning, snow lingered along portions of the coast, and snow was reported in Isle of Palms, Litchfield Beach, and Kiawah Island. Snowfall totals ranged from a trace at the National Weather Service Office at the Charleston International Airport to 2.6 inches in Chesterfield County. This was the third winter weather event since January 16 to produce accumulating snow to the Palmetto State.
Multiple WeatherFlow sensors in the Charleston Metro Area reported wind gusts up to 50 mph on Saturday. High temperatures struggled to get into the 40s, with some locations recording values up to twenty degrees below normal. Bitterly cold temperatures in the upper teens to the lower 20s were observed Sunday morning, making it the coldest morning for many locations in the state so far this winter. Temperatures rebounded quickly with abundant sunshine, climbing into the upper 40s to low 50s. The Charleston Harbor tidal gauge recorded a high tide of 7.11 ft mean low lower water on Sunday, and shallow flooding occurred in low-lying areas of the coast.
(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 | 0.00 | 2.92 | -1.0 |
| Greer Airport | 0.02 | 4.55 | 0.6 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.06 | 4.16 | 0.8 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.06 | 4.04 | 0.7 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.12s | 6.01s | 2.3s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | Trace | 3.61 | -0.1 |
| Florence Airport | 0.03 | 3.95 | 1.0 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.10 | 4.36 | 1.5 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.10 | 2.13 | -1.1 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | Trace | 2.87 | -0.3 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: Not Available. Columbia: 46 degrees. Barnwell: 38 degrees. Mullins: 33 degrees.
Little rain fell during the period, and even with the dusting of snow across portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee, conditions were dry. Areas north of the Interstate 26 corridor received the most precipitation during the period, with liquid amounts less than a tenth of an inch, with some locations observing up to a quarter of an inch. Snowfall totals on Saturday morning from observers ranged from trace amounts in the Charleston Metro Area to up to an inch in Dillon and Sumter counties, with reports of up to two inches in isolated areas of Chesterfield and Williamsburg counties. With multiple weeks of varied precipitation across the state, the United States Drought Monitor continued to show areas with moderate drought (D1) and dry conditions.
The limited rainfall and snowfall in the Pee Dee region helped raise streamflow values to near-normal conditions. Gauges in the Catawba River area near Charlotte and the Upper Savannah River reported a drop in streamflow values during the period. Still, they are nowhere near the low values reported at the end of November and December. Elsewhere across the state, streamflow remained near-normal on most streams and tributaries. Statewide, all rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
