A cold front began to slowly move into the region on Monday, bringing isolated afternoon showers into the Upstate. CoCoRaHS observers in Anderson and York counties recorded at least half an inch of rain. Ahead of the front, temperatures climbed into the upper 70s, with some locations near the coast reaching the mid-80s on Tuesday. Isolated but strong thunderstorms in the Lowcountry and southern Central Savannah River Area and Midlands produced golf-ball-sized hail and wind damage around Eutawville in Orangeburg County. Storm spotters in Berkeley County reported hail, ranging in size from nickels to golf balls near Moncks Corner and Pinopolis
Cold air started to move in behind the backdoor cold front, and rain chances increased overnight, with widespread rain reported across the state by daybreak. Many locations hit their high temperature for the day in the early morning hours on Wednesday, as temperatures dropped throughout the day. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport tied a daily record low maximum temperature of 70 degrees, recorded at midnight. By noon, the temperature had dropped to 53 degrees and hovered in the low 50s for the rest of the day. Similarly, the NWS station at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport set a record low maximum temperature of 62 degrees at 2 AM, breaking the previous record low maximum temperature for the day of 68 degrees. At 9 AM, the NWS station at the Charleston International Airport measured a temperature of 72 degrees, and at 9 PM, the temperature had dropped to 50 degrees.
Temperatures were below normal for the remainder of the period, as high pressure began to build into the region on Thursday, providing dry and sunny conditions through the weekend. Morning temperatures in the Upstate were in the upper 30s and near 50 degrees closer to the coast. The NWS station in Batesburg set a new daily record minimum temperature of 44 degrees, breaking the previous record of 46 degrees set back in 1917. High temperatures on Thursday were in the upper 60s to low 70s, up to fifteen degrees below normal. The dry conditions persisted on Friday and Saturday, with temperatures rising from the upper 40s to low 50s into the mid to upper 70s. By Saturday, the high pressure started to shift offshore, and moisture increased across the region, with clouds forming later in the day. Temperatures on Sunday moderated closer to normal, with morning lows in the 50s and high temperatures reaching the upper 70s to low 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 | 1.02 | 15.14 | -2.5 |
| Greer Airport | 1.02 | 20.24 | 1.7 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.64 | 16.78 | 0.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.84 | 18.53 | 3.6 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.32 | 11.81M | -3.1M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.79 | 20.21 | 4.3 |
| Florence Airport | 1.01 | 16.59 | 2.6 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.17 | 16.50 | 2.5 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 1.14 | 15.16 | 0.7 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.73 | 14.87 | 0.3 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 66 degrees. Columbia: 65 degrees. Barnwell: 60 degrees. Mullins: 66 degrees.
Rainfall totals over the seven days amounted to less than a tenth of an inch in parts of coastal Georgetown and Horry counties to isolated pockets of over three inches in Charleston and Kershaw counties. Statewide, totals averaged about half an inch for the period. However, the United States Drought Monitor continued to reflect the abnormally dry (D0) and moderate drought (D1) conditions (D0) across the Pee Dee, which continues to miss out on beneficial rainfall.
Most of the streamflow values across the state remained near normal values. Due to the continued lack of rainfall across the Pee Dee region over the recent periods, streamflow gauges on the Little Pee Dee and the Waccamaw rivers reported below normal streamflow values for the second half of May. River height levels and projected heights around the state were forecast to remain below flood stage.
