The trend of above-normal temperatures continued for a second period. A weak cold front approached the area on Monday, February 27, causing some breezy conditions and a few scattered showers during the evening. Low temperatures on Monday morning were in the mid- to upper 50s, which should be more reflective of maximum temperatures for this time of year. High temperatures rose into the mid- to upper 70s. Drier conditions prevailed behind the weak front on Tuesday, and temperatures maintained near record warmth, as they pushed more than fifteen degrees above normal. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station observed a high of 86 degrees, breaking the previous daily record of 84 degrees from 1962. Preliminary data indicate that February 2023 will become the fourth warmest February statewide since 1895.
On the first day of March, a frontal boundary lingered over the area, with highs in the mid-70s in the Upstate and mid-80s in the coastal Lowcountry. Moisture increased ahead of a stronger cold front on Wednesday evening and into Thursday. In locations under mostly cloudy skies on Thursday, temperatures did not get as warm, with highs in the upper 60s to low-70s. However, areas along the coast reached the lower 80s. Rain chances increased ahead of the strong cold front, and before the line of storms moved through Friday night, strong winds downed trees in Anderson, Aiken, Edgefield, Lexington, and Richland counties. The NWS Greer Office recorded gusts up to 43 mph, and wind damage from thunderstorms was reported in Greenwood, Laurens, Newberry, and Spartanburg counties. Members of the Greer NWS Office confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down near Hickory Tavern in Laurens County and was on the ground for 21 miles, with the track ending near Cross Anchor in Spartanburg County. The tornado had a narrow path and caused mainly tree damage, though felled trees damaged a few structures.
Dry high pressure settled into the region behind the front, providing fair weather for the weekend. With clear skies, overnight temperatures dropped into the upper 40s to mid-50s on Saturday morning but rose into the mid to upper 70s during the day. Sunday morning temperatures ranged from the mid-30s across the Upstate to the upper 40s along the coast and, by the afternoon, rose into the mid-70s with slight breezy conditions.
(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 | 0.89 | 11.74 | 3.0 |
| Greer Airport | 1.01 | 11.91 | 3.2 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.49 | 9.25 | 2.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.09 | 9.38 | 1.9 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.11 | 9.61 | 1.1 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.06 | 11.93 | 3.7 |
| Florence Airport | 0.18 | 8.21 | 1.6 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.01 | 5.96 | -0.8 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.08 | 7.92 | 1.0 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.11 | 7.41 | 0.8 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 54 degrees. Columbia: 62 degrees. Barnwell: 55 degrees. Mullins: 60 degrees.
For the second week in a row, a cold front at the end of the period provided most of the rainfall across the state. Areas along and north of the Interstate 85 corridor recorded up to an inch of rain, with locations in higher elevations reporting close to an inch and a half. Elsewhere, rainfall was sparse, ranging from less than half an inch in the Midlands to trace amounts in parts of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions.
With the lack of rainfall over the region during the past two weeks, the 14-day averages for stream flow values across much of the state started to decline. A few stream flow gauges in the major river basins across the state reported values slightly below normal conditions, with the gauge on the Black Creek near Quinby dropping to much below normal flows. Most river heights returned to levels below the action stage.
