SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

May 20 - 26, 2002

WEATHER SUMMARY

Unseasonable cool weather, courtesy of Canadian high pressure, dominated the work week. Several local daily low temperature records were set, with early morning minimums in the mid 40's. Afternoon high temperatures were reported in the 70's. On Thursday a warming trend began with 80 degrees returning and eventually reaching 90 degrees over the weekend. Outside of an isolated coastal shower it was a dry week for most of South Carolina. For the period, the state average temperature was 10 degrees below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 95 degrees at Orangeburg on May 25. The lowest temperature was 38 degrees at Johnston and Chesterfield on the morning of May 20. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was 0.76" at St. George ending at 7:00 a.m. on May 20. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.1".

                    Precipitation
               Period    2002    Deviation*            Temperature
Location        Total   Total     From Avg.          Maximum   Minimum	
Greer            0.00   15.94         5.4B              87        43                       	              	
Columbia         0.00   18.55         0.1B              89        42
Florence         0.00   12.00         4.6B              89        42	        
Charleston       0.00   12.89         4.0B              88        45
N Myrtle Beach   0.07    8.85         6.7B              84        43
Augusta, Ga.     0.00   11.84         6.8B              90        41 
A=Above, B=Below                                                                       
                                                                   
 

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the 24-hour period ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 73 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 72 degrees.