High pressure settled over the Southeast on Monday, April 15, providing mostly sunny skies, dry conditions, and above-normal temperatures through the middle of the week. Low and high temperatures were up to ten degrees warmer than normal, with morning temperatures in the mid-50s to low 60s and rising into the mid-80s by late afternoon. The dry weather and summerlike temperatures continued into Tuesday, despite high clouds associated with a nearby cold front that moved through portions of North Carolina. Cloud cover increased on Wednesday due to an approaching weather system from the west, with temperatures cooler than Monday and Tuesday but still above normal for mid-April.
Summerlike weather returned on Thursday, April 18, with multiple stations recording high temperatures at or above 90 degrees for the first time since mid-September. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport recorded a high of 90 degrees. While not a daily record for the station, the temperature was earlier than the normal date of the first 90-degree day, which is May 1. Warm weather continued through Saturday, with dry weather for most of the day with plenty of sunshine across the region. Isolated showers developed late Thursday evening into Friday morning ahead of an approaching weak front near the North Carolina/South Carolina border, bringing scattered showers and storms to the state's northern tier.
A cold front moved south across the region Saturday and stalled, sparking several rounds of showers and thunderstorms. Some storms produced strong winds and damaging hail, and rainfall was limited outside of thunderstorms. Multiple reports of hail were associated with a storm that moved through Spartanburg, Cherokee, Darlington, Marlboro, Chesterfield, York, Lancaster, and Horry counties. Widespread hail damage was reported across the city of Rock Hill in York County, with storm reports of hail between golf-ball and softball-sized. The front remained stationary across the region, and a coastal low developed on Sunday, producing off-and-on rain throughout most of the day. Thunderstorms produced a 58 mph gust at the NWS station at Beaufort MCAS and a 50 mph gust at Springmaid Pier. Temperatures were up to ten degrees cooler than average, with high temperatures in the mid- to upper 60s.
(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 | 0.66 | 20.02 | 5.2 |
| Greer Airport | 0.45 | 21.94 | 6.7 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.69 | 14.98 | 1.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.50 | 15.21 | 2.8 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.04 | 13.66 | -0.4 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.27 | 11.79 | -2.0 |
| Florence Airport | 0.22 | 11.20 | -0.2 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 2.01 | 10.53 | -1.2 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.24 | 17.04 | 4.9 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.62 | 14.43 | 2.4 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 65 degrees. Columbia: 70 degrees. Barnwell: 66 degrees. Mullins: 63 degrees.
Most of the state recorded less than a quarter of an inch of rain during the period; however, portions of the northern Midlands and Pee Dee regions reported higher rainfall totals. Most of the Lowcountry recorded less than a tenth of an inch of rain, with many coastal locations reporting no rain. A few CoCoRaHS observers in Horry County measured more than two inches of rain. Some locations near the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, including Rock Hill, recorded up to two inches of rain, with most of the precipitation coming from a single event.
With limited precipitation falling across the headwaters of the state’s river basins over the previous periods, many of the 14-day average streamflow values across the state dropped to below-normal flows; however, some gauges in the same areas still reported normal streamflow values. The river height gauges along portions of the Lower Savannah dropped below minor flood and action stages. Elsewhere, the river height gauges across the state reported levels below flood stage.
