On Monday, February 19, a warm frontal boundary was draped over the Upstate triggering light rain. Anderson reported 0.15 inches of rain. Before frontal passage, Long Creek and Ninety Nine Islands shared a morning low temperature of 40 degrees. The Charleston Air Force Base reached an afternoon high temperature of 79 degrees. The NWS COOP in Dillon reached a date record high temperature of 83 degrees surpassing the previous date record of 79 degrees reached in 2014.
Strong ridging of the subtropical high over the US East Coast brought a persistent southerly flow over the state for the rest of the week. Anomalously warm temperatures tied and set new date record high temperatures across the state every day. A total of 222 date record high temperatures were set during the period of February 19-25. Of those records, 139 new date record high temperatures were set by two or more degrees. Selected daily date high temperature records include:
Date | Location | New Date Record (deg. F.) | Previous Date Record / Year (deg. F.) |
---|---|---|---|
February 19 | Dillon | 83 | 79 / 2014 |
February 20 | McClellanville | 79 | 74 / 2004 |
February 21 | Columbia Owens Downtown Airport | 81 | 76 / 2011 |
February 22 | Rock Hill York County Airport | 80 | 74 / 2011 |
February 23 | Orangeburg | 85 | 81 / 2012 |
February 24 | Greenville Downtown Airport | 80 | 77 / 1930 |
February 25 | Charleston Air Force Base | 86 | 81 / 2017 |
On February 21, Little Mountain reported a date record high temperature of 82 degrees, surpassing the previous record of 77 degrees set back in 1897. Walhalla also recorded that day's record high temperature of 75 degrees that eclipsed the previous 1897 date record by two degrees. Columbia experienced five consecutive days of high temperatures above 80 degrees, February 20-24.
On Sunday, February 25 a pre-frontal trough passed over the state and produced scattered rainshowers over the Upstate and the Midlands. Anderson received 0.15 inches and Columbia Metro reported a brief period of heavy rain at 1:20 PM that totalled 0.07 inches. Overcast and mostly cloudy conditions over the Upstate and Midlands ended the series of consecutive days with temperatures above 80 degrees.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)
The highest official temperature reported was 86 degrees at the Charleston Air Force Base on February 25.
The lowest official temperature reported was 40 degrees at Long Creek and Ninety Nine Islands on February 19.
The heaviest official 24-hour precipitation reported was 0.38 inches on Sassafras Mountain on February 21.
The state average precipitation for the seven-day period was 0.10 inches.
Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
---|---|---|---|
Anderson Airport | 0.17 | 6.90 | -0.5 |
Greer Airport | 0.12 | 7.89 | 0.4 |
Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.28 | 5.54 | -0.8 |
Columbia Metro Airport | 0.07 | 3.73 | -3.1 |
Orangeburg Airport | 0.03 | 2.75 | -4.4 |
Augusta, GA Airport | 0.02 | 3.56 | -3.8 |
Florence Airport | 0.02 | 2.89 | -2.9 |
North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.09 | 5.65 | -1.1 |
Charleston Air Force Base | 0.16 | 4.18 | -2.2 |
Savannah, GA Airport | 0.09 | 2.82 | -3.4 |
*Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 55 degrees. Columbia: 64 degrees. Barnwell: 58 degrees. Mullins: 67 degrees.
Upstate river stages were below normal to normal.
Midlands and Pee Dee river stages were much below normal to below normal.
Lowcountry river stages were below normal to normal.
Charleston Harbor water temperature: 63.9 degrees.
Fripp Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 63.1 degrees.