Sunny and summer-like weather was the pattern through most of the workweek, with minimum and maximum temperatures up to ten degrees above normal. High temperatures were predominantly in the upper 80s to mid-90s, with overnight lows only falling into the upper 60s and low 70s.
On Monday, May 2, a weak frontal boundary was positioned to the northwest of the region and helped trigger showers and thunderstorms along the sea breeze. The boundary lingered to the west of the area and funneled warm, humid air into the state. Intense storms on Tuesday produced pea- to quarter-sized hail and high winds in Fairfield, Hampton, Kershaw, Lee, Richland, and Sumter counties. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport (GSP) observed a high of 88 degrees, tying the previous daily record set in 1965. Another round of storms on Wednesday caused hail in Berkeley, Cherokee, and Lancaster counties. The NWS station at GSP reached a high of 89 degrees, breaking the previous daily record of 88 degrees set in 2014.
On Thursday, the weak front finally moved eastward and through the state, with dry and warm conditions still in place. Overnight lows only dropped into the upper 60s by Friday morning, and many stations reported new daily record high minimum temperatures, including the NWS locations at the Charleston International Airport (71 degrees), the Columbia Metropolitan Airport (69 degrees), and GSP (64 degrees). A second cold front and associated storm system impacted the state Friday afternoon and early evening. Some storms developed ahead of the front and reached severe limits. Storm spotters relayed reports of hail up to the size of golf balls across the Midlands and Pee Dee, with a report of two-inch diameter hail near Prosperity in Newberry County. The storms also caused minor wind damage across the state, with the highest gusts reaching 50 mph.
Cooler and less humid conditions were observed over the weekend. On Saturday, some scattered showers moved through the Upstate and northern Midlands, and temperatures were near normal and slightly below. By Sunday, cloudy skies gave way to sunshine with breezy conditions. High temperatures were up to fifteen degrees below normal, only in the mid- to upper 60s at most locations. The high of 69 degrees recorded at the NWS CHS station was the second-lowest daily maximum temperature reported at the station; the record for the day is 61 degrees, set in 1992.
(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 | 0.16 | 15.88 | -0.6 |
| Greer Airport | 0.25 | 18.97 | 1.4 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.04 | 17.23 | 2.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.10 | 13.90 | -0.2 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.20s | 17.30s | 1.5s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.03 | 13.88 | -1.3 |
| Florence Airport | 1.10 | 14.45 | 1.4 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.23 | 12.26 | -1.0 | Charleston Air Force Base | Trace | 8.41 | -5.4 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.02 | 7.30 | -6.4 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 68 degrees. Columbia: 71 degrees. Barnwell: Not Available. Mullins: 67 degrees.
Rainfall totals varied across the state, with most places in the Upstate recording less than a quarter of an inch of rain, and less than a tenth of an inch was measured at locations along the coast. The highest widespread rainfall amounts fell in the Central Savannah River Area, Midlands, and portions of the interior Pee Dee region, where totals were closer to an inch. A few higher amounts were measured under localized thunderstorms, especially in Chesterfield, Darlington, and Florence counties. Over the past few weeks, rainfall eased some of the abnormally dry conditions (D0) in interior portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee. However, the United State Drought Monitor continued to show incipient drought (D0) and moderate drought (D1) persisting in the state's eastern half.
Warmer than normal conditions, combined with the lack of widespread precipitation, caused a drop in streamflow values across much of the state. The 14-day streamflow averages at many of the gauges of the Upper Broad and Santee basins fell below normal. Similar trends were observed in the Pee Dee, with the gauge at Black Creek near Hartsville joining the Little Pee Dee River gauge at Galivants Ferry in measuring average flows still below the long-term average flows. All of the state’s rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
