SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

February 17 - 23, 2003

WEATHER SUMMARY

Early Monday morning precipitation fell in the form of snow and sleet in the highest elevations to light amounts of sleet and freezing rain into the Midlands. The mercury moved little and stayed in the mid-30's all day. A slow trend to milder weather took place between Tuesday and Friday with reports of pockets of fog and mostly sunny afternoons. A frontal boundary approached the state late Friday and by Saturday morning a line of thunderstorms was moving west to east. Many locations experienced high and damaging winds, isolated small hail, and heavy downpours. South Carolina river stages reported sharp rises. Warm southerly winds helped push temperatures into the 60's and 70's. Sunny skies returned on Sunday with brisk westerly winds and cooler temperatures. The average statewide temperature for the period was near normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 78 degrees at Mullins on February 22. The lowest temperature was 20 degrees at Ceasars Head on the morning of February 17. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.31"at Jocassee Dam on February 22. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.6".

                     Precipitation
               Period   2003     Deviation*       Temperature
Location        Total  Total     From Avg.     Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            1.36   5.16         2.7B         66        29   
Columbia         0.72   4.37         3.4B         70        29
Florence         1.12   2.83         3.7B         76        27      
Charleston       0.53   2.79         3.8B         74        33
N Myrtle Beach   0.46   3.26         3.3B         67        31
Augusta, Ga.     1.04   4.93         2.9B         70        29
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 53 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were reported near normal and rising.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 52 degrees.