Unlike the previous periods, the main weather story for the week did not involve a winter weather event but a warming trend in temperatures throughout the workweek. On Monday, January 31, conditions were calm and mostly sunny; temperatures were close to normal, with highs in the upper 50s to low 60s and lows in the mid to upper 30s. On Tuesday, the bright and clear weather continued across the Southeast as high pressure moved into the Mid-Atlantic. The Charleston Harbor tidal gauge reported a tide of 7.58 ft MLLW on Tuesday morning, and shallow to moderate flooding in low-lying areas of the South Carolina coast occurred through Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday, February 2, the famed Puxatuney Phil saw his shadow, declaring six more weeks of winter as a powerful storm system developed in the central U.S. In the Southeast, conditions remained dry, and temperatures warmed in areas outside the Upstate. A cold air damming event kept afternoon temperatures in the upper 40s in the Upstate, while warmer than average temperatures were recorded from the Midlands to the coast. Temperatures on Thursday and Friday were more like spring than winter, with temperatures up to twenty degrees above normal for afternoon highs, with some locations in the state reaching the mid to upper 70s. Shower activity increased across the region ahead of a cold front on Thursday night and into Friday morning. As the cold front moved through the state, it produced heavy rain in the Upstate but limited precipitation elsewhere, triggering a few thunderstorms in the Lowcountry. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Charleston International Airport recorded a low of 59 degrees on Friday morning, breaking the daily record for the high minimum temperature of 58 degrees set back in 1957.
By Saturday, the front had pushed offshore, ushering in a return to cooler temperatures for the weekend. Despite the mostly sunny skies, maximum temperatures were between ten and fifteen degrees below normal. Daytime temperatures in the Upstate struggled to reach the 50s, and locations near the coast reported highs in the upper 50s. Dry conditions led to a radiational cooling event on Sunday morning, and low temperatures dropped into the low to mid-20s in the Midlands and Upstate. Maximum temperatures were between ten and fifteen degrees below normal, with many locations recording highs in the mid to upper 40s.
(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 | 1.22 | 4.14 | -0.8 |
| Greer Airport | 1.46 | 6.01 | 1.1 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.67 | 4.83 | 0.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.63 | 4.67 | 0.5 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.38s | 6.39s | 1.8s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.76 | 4.37 | -0.2 |
| Florence Airport | 0.20 | 4.15 | 0.4 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.39 | 4.75 | 1.1 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.46 | 2.59 | -1.5 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.40 | 3.27 | 0.6 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 40 degrees. Columbia: 51 degrees. Barnwell: 44 degrees. Mullins: 50 degrees.
Most of the rain that fell during the period occurred on Friday and Saturday, with areas north and west of the Interstate 20 corridor reporting more than half an inch of rain. Rainfall totals were highest in the Upstate, with locations north of Interstate 85 measuring amounts between three and eight inches. Portions of the Midlands received up to an inch of rain, including the Catawba and Wateree river areas, which were still reporting drought conditions. Little rain fell in the Lowcountry and Pee Dee, and the dry conditions there continued, especially in the coastal portions of these areas. With multiple weeks of varied precipitation across the state, the United States Drought Monitor showed worsening conditions in some areas and improvements with moderate drought (D1) and dry conditions.
While the heavy rains in the Upstate helped increase streamflow values in the Upper Savannah and most of the Santee watersheds, the limited rainfall did little to help the below-average streamflows in the Catawba River area near Charlotte and across the Pee Dee. Elsewhere across the state, streamflow remained near-normal on most streams and tributaries. Statewide, all rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
