SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

May 22-28, 2000

Light showers were reported before sunrise on Monday in advance of a boundary of cooler weather. Tuesday morning low temperatures were observed in the 50's over the western half of the state. Hot, humid conditions quickly returned for both Wednesday and Thursday. Violent thunderstorms developed in the unstable airmass Thursday evening with widespread hail and high winds. Hardest hit was the Florence area where hail up to baseball size shattered windows and winds toppled trees. Several counties outside of the damage path did benefit from the accompanying rainfall. Upper 90 degree heat returned for Saturday only to be replaced by the upper 80's on Sunday. Widely scattered thunderstorms, some heavy, were noted at week's end. Statewide temperatures for the period averaged seven degrees above normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The maximum observed temperature was 102 degrees at Blackville on May 25. The minimum observed temperature was 49 degrees at Lake Bowen on the morning of May 23. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was reported at Kingstree with 2.65" ending at 7 a.m. on May 26. Statewide average rainfall for the period was 0.5".

                      Precipitation
                  Period   2000   Deviation*                    Temperature
Location          Total    Total  From Avg.                  Maximum    Minimum
Greer              0.23    16.8     4.9B                        92        58
Columbia           0.59    16.3     3.6B                       101        59
Florence           2.39    13.5     3.3B                        NA        63
Charleston         0.57    12.1     5.2B                        97        67
N Myrtle Beach     1.18    13.2     3.4B                        NA        63
Augusta, Ga.       0.03    11.9     7.8B                        99        54

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the prior 24-hrs ending 7 am Monday through ending 7 am Sunday

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 80 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

Most South Carolina rivers are below normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 78 degrees.