On Monday, April 18, a surface low moved through the state, bringing widespread showers and thunderstorms, which cleared the state by mid-morning on Tuesday. Rainfall totals ranged from less than an inch along the coast to three inches in portions of the Central Savannah River Area and Upstate. Cold air damming conditions across the Upstate, Midlands, and the Pee Dee region's interior portions kept high temperatures almost twenty degrees below normal. The National Weather Service station at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport recorded a high of 60 degrees, while the station at the Charleston International Airport reported a high of 77 degrees. Behind the low, temperatures on Tuesday and Wednesday remained below average. The NWS station in Batesburg recorded a new daily low maximum temperature on Tuesday of 56 degrees, breaking the previous record of 63 degrees set back in 2014. The station at Andrews set a new daily record minimum temperature on Wednesday of 39 degrees.
The dry and fair weather continued with a surface high pressure over the Mid-Atlantic by Thursday. The pleasant conditions persisted through the remainder of the period. Overnight temperatures started cooler than normal on Friday, but plenty of sunshine, with a few high clouds, helped temperatures climb into the low to mid-80s across much of the state. Temperatures steadily warmed over the weekend, with lows in the 60s and highs in the 80s.
(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 | 1.59 | 15.71 | 0.5 |
| Greer Airport | 2.41 | 18.61 | 2.9 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.74 | 16.19 | 2.5 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.38 | 13.59 | 0.9 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.70s | 16.87s | 2.7s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.13 | 13.85 | -0.2 |
| Florence Airport | 0.51 | 12.96 | 1.3 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 1.17 | 11.73 | -0.3 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.30 | 8.39 | -4.1 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.26 | 6.89 | -5.5 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 66 degrees. Columbia: 68 degrees. Barnwell: 60 degrees. Mullins: 69 degrees.
The only measurable rainfall occurred at the beginning of the period, with dry conditions reported after Tuesday morning. The heaviest widespread precipitation fell again over portions of the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), with high rainfall totals recorded in the Upstate. Most of the state south and east of the Interstate 20 corridor reported less than half of an inch of rain, though isolated locations recorded close to an inch. Over the past few weeks, rainfall has helped alleviate abnormally dry conditions (D0) and moderate drought (D1) in some areas; however, these conditions persist in the state's eastern half.
With heavy rain falling again in portions of the CSRA and Midlands, some Santee and Savannah River basins streamflow gauges reported much above-average flows. Normal flows were recorded elsewhere across the state, and the gauge on Waccamaw River near Longs recovered to near normal flows after reporting low flows since March. The only exception was the Little Pee Dee River gauge at Galivants Ferry, which measured flows still below the long-term average flows. As the water moved through the state's watersheds, the river height gauge on the Savannah River near Clyo, GA, reported moderate flooding, while a few river height gauges reached minor flood stage and then quickly fell to normal heights. Most of the rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
