On Monday, March 15, windy conditions were observed at the coast, and WeatherFlow stations on the Isle of Palms and near Shutes Folly recorded gusts up to 45 mph. Moisture moved back into the region on Tuesday, causing overcast skies and light rain across parts of the state. With a cold air damming event setting up in the Carolinas, temperatures continued to be lower than normal. On Wednesday, March 17, the National Weather Service (NWS) station in Pelion reported a high temperature of 49 degrees, which broke the daily record low maximum temperature of 55 degrees set in 1983. On the same day, the NWS station in Batesburg reported a 24-hour rainfall total of 2.45 inches, breaking the previous daily record of 1.93 inches set back in 1920.
Due to the strength of the cold air damming event and other atmospheric conditions, the threat of a significant severe weather event was limited, though strong thunderstorms developed across the state on Thursday afternoon. Non-thunderstorm winds caused minor damage in Powdersville in Anderson County. The NWS offices in Columbia and Greer issued multiple severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings on some of the storms, including storms that downed numerous trees near Chappells and produced hail in Chesterfield County. Locations around Charleston reported heavy rain, and totals ending on Friday morning ranged from one to three inches in portions of the coastal Lowcountry.
Behind the front, cool but fair weather moved for the Upstate and Midlands through the remainder of the period. Temperatures on Friday were in the upper 50s to lower 60s, even under sunny skies. By Saturday, moisture returned across the Southeast, leading to increased cloudiness. Daytime temperatures continued to be between ten and fifteen degrees below normal. A weak area of low pressure caused moderate rainfall in the Lowcountry on Sunday, also producing strong winds and high surf conditions along the area beaches.
(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 | 1.44 | 8.91 | -1.9 |
| Greer Airport | 2.02 | 11.31 | 0.4 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.69 | 11.07 | 1.6 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.68 | 13.80 | 4.0 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.60 | 9.14M | -1.2M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.32 | 13.15 | 2.4 |
| Florence Airport | 0.80 | 12.85 | 5.3 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.73 | 12.93 | 3.2 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.75 | 11.62 | 2.5 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 2.91 | 11.41 | 2.4 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 51 degrees. Columbia: 57 degrees. Barnwell: 48 degrees. Mullins: 44 degrees.
After a stretch of dry days, moisture returned to the region and there were widespread rainfall totals of a half an inch or more over the period. Locations near Aiken and North Augusta recorded the least amount of precipitation, with totals of less than a quarter of an inch, while portions of the Upstate recorded more than four inches of rain. CoCoRaHS observers in Salem, Sunset, and Slater-Marietta reported close to five inches of rain, most of that falling around the middle of the week.
The widespread rainfall totals helped increase streamflow values at some of the gauges in the Midlands, that reported slightly below normal flows in the previous period. Areas that received some of the higher rainfall totals also saw river heights rise, especially in the Pee Dee and Santee basins. A few gauges reached minor flood stage, like the Santee near Jamestown and the Pee Dee near Pee Dee, while other gauges rose to the action stage by the end of the period.
