High pressure continued to dominate the weather pattern, keeping conditions hot and dry through the end of the week. On Monday, May 24, the National Weather Service (NWS) station on the University of South Carolina campus in Richland County measured a high of 100 degrees, which tied the record set in 2019. Maximum temperatures held in the mid- to upper 90s, up to fifteen degrees above normal for the end of May, with slightly warm overnight temperatures. The stagnant, hot air caused air quality issues, and DHEC issued alerts for poor air quality for much of the state.
Another round of King Tides impacted the coast, and there were multiple reports of shallow saltwater flooding in downtown Charleston and low-lying areas along the entire South Carolina coast. The tidal gauge in the Charleston Harbor reached 7.04 ft MLLW on Wednesday evening and 7.03 ft on Friday evening.
This weather pattern changed as a cold front moved across the region on Friday night and into Saturday morning with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms were severe, prompting warnings and causing damage, especially in the Upstate. There were multiple downed trees and broken power poles due to wind damage as a severe thunderstorm moved across Pickens and Greenville counties. On Saturday, May 29, high temperatures were cooler behind the front, and were near-normal with high temperatures in the low 80s. Lows on Sunday morning dropped into the mid to upper 50s, and high temperatures struggled to reach the mid-70s across much of the state. At the Charleston International Airport, the NWS station set a new daily record low maximum temperature of 72 degrees, breaking the previous record of 74 degrees set back in 1971 and 1984.
(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 | 0.55 | 15.69 | -3.8 |
| Greer Airport | 0.62 | 20.89 | 0.5 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.17 | 16.95 | -0.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.05 | 18.58 | 2.0 |
| Orangeburg Airport | Trace | 11.81M | -4.8M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.01 | 20.22 | 2.7 |
| Florence Airport | 0.07 | 16.66 | 0.8 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.05 | 16.57 | 1.2 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 1.69 | 16.85 | 0.6 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.00 | 14.90 | -1.5 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 70 degrees. Columbia: 71 degrees. Barnwell: 66 degrees. Mullins: 60 degrees.
Rainfall totals amounted to less than half of an inch statewide, with a few isolated pockets of totals over two inches in parts of Charleston County. Most of the rain observed during the period fell on Friday night and Saturday morning, and a few locations recorded over an inch of rain in the Upstate. The United States Drought Monitor continued to reflect the abnormally dry (D0) and moderate drought (D1) conditions across the Pee Dee, as these areas missed out on any beneficial rainfall.
Most of the streamflow values across the state remained near normal values. However, due to the continued lack of rainfall across portions of the state, streamflow gauges along the Santee, Wateree, and smaller tributaries of the Savannah dropped below normal values. The streamflow at the gauge on the Waccamaw near Longs dropped to less than 20 cubic feet per second and a river height of 1.24 feet. River height levels and projected heights around the state were forecast to remain below flood stage.
