The period started with warmer than normal temperatures on Monday, March 7, with overnight lows in the 60s and daytime highs reaching the low to mid-80s. With dry air in place and breezy conditions, lake wind advisories and red flag conditions were posted across most of the state. Temperatures continued to run up to twenty degrees above normal throughout the middle of the week. Some stations in the Lowcountry recorded maximum temperatures in the mid-80s on Tuesday and Wednesday, while locations in the Upstate observed highs in the 60s. A front stalled across the Southeast, helping to increase rain chances in the Midlands and Upstate. Some observers near the Fall Line reported up to three inches of rain by Wednesday morning, while spotty shower activity was reported in the Pee Dee.
By Thursday, March 10, the front drifted back south over the state, setting up a weak cold air damming event across the region. With northeasterly flow and cloudy skies, morning temperatures started in the 40s and 50s, with highs only reaching the upper 50s to low 60s by mid-afternoon. Light rain and drizzle were observed in parts of the Midlands and Upstate, with rainfall amounting to less than a tenth of an inch in most locations. On Friday, winds strengthened, and additional showers developed ahead of a strong cold front. Temperatures were similar to those observed on Thursday due to extensive cloud cover.
The cold front produced thunderstorms as it moved through the state late Friday and Saturday morning. Behind the front, strong, gusty winds were reported across the state, with wind gusts up to 65 mph measured along the coast. Maximum temperatures at most of the stations were reported during the early morning and rapidly fell throughout the day, with minimum temperatures recorded in the 20s shortly before midnight. Temperatures continued to fall overnight, and minimum temperatures were up to twenty-five degrees below normal. The NWS station in Wagener in Aiken County reported a low of 15 degrees, and the NWS station on the campus of Winthrop University dropped to 19 degrees on Sunday morning. Preliminary information indicates that the hard freeze had adverse impacts on blueberry, peach, and strawberry crops that had started to bloom early due to warmer than average temperatures at the end of February and the beginning of March.
(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 | 2.69 | 9.12 | -0.8 |
| Greer Airport | 3.05 | 11.24 | 1.3 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 3.90 | 10.71 | 2.4 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.82 | 6.74 | -1.7 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 1.32s | 8.41s | -1.0s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 1.08 | 6.32 | -3.0 |
| Florence Airport | 1.31 | 7.46 | 0.0 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 1.38 | 7.17 | -0.5 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.55 | 3.60 | -4.2 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.38 | 4.29 | -3.3 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 50 degrees. Columbia: 54 degrees. Barnwell: Not Available. Mullins: 50 degrees.
Most of the state recorded at least half an inch of rain during the period, with areas north and west of the Fall Line reporting over two inches of rain. Most CoCoRaHS and NWS stations in areas around and along the Interstate 85 corridor recorded between three and four inches of rain, most of that falling in two separate events, one ending on Wednesday morning and the other ending on Saturday morning. However, the beneficial rain did not fall in portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee that needed help alleviating worsening drought conditions. The United States Drought Monitor continued to report abnormally dry conditions (D0) and moderate drought (D1) across the state's eastern half.
Streamflow gauges in the Upstate showed the greatest increase in flow values due to most of the rain falling in the region. Elsewhere across the state, streamflow gauges continued reporting values below normal, including some of the Pee Dee watershed gauges, which measured much below average, and low values were reported at the gauges on the Little Pee Dee River at Galivants Ferry and on the Waccamaw River near Longs. With rain falling in the headwaters of the Pee Dee and Santee basins, a few river height gauges rose into action stage, with forecasted heights to reach minor flood stage during the new work week. Most of the rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
