WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2025
March 3, 2025 - March 9, 2025
WEATHER SUMMARY:
Cool and dry high pressure built across the area on Monday, March 3, with daytime temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s and light winds. Due to gusty winds, the increased fire danger continued from the weekend and persisted throughout the entire period, despite midweek rain. On Tuesday, the high pressure shifted offshore, and southeasterly winds and increasing moisture moved into the region ahead of a cold front. High temperatures rose into the lower 70s on Tuesday afternoon, as a warm front lifted over the area and low-level clouds moved into the region.
Early Wednesday morning, an intense cold front moved rapidly across the state, with a line of strong to severe thunderstorms, with strong winds and heavy rain being the primary severe weather. The passing line of thunderstorms prompted tornado warnings in the Midlands, though no tornadoes were confirmed after storm surveys. Windy conditions persisted into the early evening hours, with wind gusts up to 45 mph. There were reports of non-thunderstorm wind damage in Saluda, Aiken, Richland, and Lexington counties ahead of the front. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Charleston International Airport recorded a non-thunderstorm wind gust of 48 mph; a 52 mph gust was recorded as the line of storms moved through the area.
By Thursday morning, the cold front had moved well offshore, and high pressure built into the Southeast, providing cooler temperatures and dry and breezy conditions. Despite the sunny skies, temperatures were below normal, with maximum temperatures reaching the mid-to-upper 50s. With dry air and clear skies, overnight temperatures dropped into the upper 20s to mid-30s by Friday morning, between five and ten degrees below normal. Temperatures moderated on Friday, returning to the mid-60s, which is near normal for the first week of March, and warmed to above normal values on Saturday. Another cold front pushed through the state late Saturday, bringing cooler air into the region. Cloudy conditions persisted over the state as a low-pressure system formed off the coast, producing over an inch of rain in portions of the Lowcountry.
(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.)
The highest reported temperature was 81 degrees on March 8 at the NWS stations near Jamestown in Berkeley County, Charleston International Airport in Charleston County, Orangeburg Municipal Airport in Orangeburg County, the University of South Carolina in Richland County, Barnwell in Barnwell County, and Georgetown County Airport on March 9.
The lowest temperature reported was 19 degrees at the NWS stations near Wagener in Aiken County and Winthrop University on March 3.
The NWS station near Jocassee in Oconee County reported a maximum 24-hour precipitation of 0.30 inches, ending on the morning of March 5.
The CoCoRaHS station Bennettsville 1.2 SE (SC-MB-2) reported a 24-hour precipitation total of 1.37 inches, ending on the morning of March 6.
The state average precipitation for the seven-day period was 0.6 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
| | Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure |
| Anderson Airport | 0.70 | 6.64 | -2.7 |
| Greer Airport | 0.72 | 7.28 | -2.0 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.84 | 5.53 | -2.3 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.65 | 4.29 | -3.7 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | M | M | M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.65 | 6.30 | -2.5 |
| Florence Airport | 1.08 | 4.34 | -2.7 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.39 | 2.69 | -4.5 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.53 | 3.48 | -3.9 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.88 | 4.31 | -2.8 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
8
SOIL TEMPERATURES:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: Not Available. Columbia: 57 degrees. Barnwell: 50 degrees. Mullins: 64 degrees.
PRECIPITATION AND RIVER STAGES:
Most of the precipitation that fell during the period was due to the passage on Tuesday evening and into Wednesday morning. Totals from the event ranged from half an inch to about an inch to two inches in some isolated locations of the Upstate and Pee Dee regions. Despite rain during the period, which fell after the Tuesday cut-off for the U.S. Drought Monitor map, drought conditions worsened. The map released on Thursday, March 6, showed the expansion of abnormally dry (D0) and moderate (D1) conditions across much of the state, as well as the introduction of severe (D2) drought conditions in the Pee Dee region.
The 14-day average streamflow across much of the state continued to decline. Gauges in the Midlands that recorded flows within the normal range last period were now reporting values below normal. Additional gauges in portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions reported values below normal, while gauges on the Little Pee Dee River at Galivants Ferry, Black Creek at Kingstree, and the Waccamaw River near Longs. The dry conditions caused and some gauges on smaller tributaries of the Saluda and Savannah rivers to record values much below normal. The height levels at the river and the tidal gauges across the state remained below the flood stage.
WATER TEMPERATURES:
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 56.5 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 50.9 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 53.1 degrees.
