On Monday, June 19, an unsettled and rainy pattern set up across the region and would persist for most of the period. An upper area of low pressure became cut off and remained nearly stationary over the Tennessee Valley. The circulation around the system pulled moisture northward from the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico across the Southeast through the middle of the workweek. By Wednesday, rainfall totals across the Midlands ranged from four to six inches. On Thursday, a warm front across the region helped with the redevelopment of storms during the afternoon, and a Flood Watch was issued for most of the state west of the Interstate 95 corridor. The Weather Prediction Center issued a slight risk of excessive rainfall, and training storms produced heavy rain, which led to flash flooding in portions of Aiken, Augusta, and Batesburg.
However, conditions were a little drier on Friday, June 23, behind the cold front as the boundary stalled across the Midlands, triggering scattered showers south of the Fall Line. By Saturday morning, the front started to push through the state slowly and along the coast by Sunday morning. Drier air and warmer temperatures were on tap for Sunday, though a system with strong thunderstorms approached the state from the west and impacted portions of the Upstate during the evening hours.
While minimum temperatures were typical for the time of year, maximum temperatures during the period were five to ten degrees below normal. Lows ranged in the, while high temperatures ranged from in the mid-70s to low 80s. Wednesday and Thursday were the coolest days across the state during the period, with high temperatures between fifteen and twenty degrees below normal. The National Weather Service station at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport recorded a maximum temperature of 69 degrees and Thursday, which felt more like the beginning of April than mid-June. The temperature broke the daily record low maximum of 75 degrees on Wednesday set in 1979 and the daily record low maximum of 70 degrees on Thursday in 1963.
(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 | 3.22 | 31.92 | 8.8 |
| Greer Airport | 2.91 | 35.52 | 11.7 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.84 | 24.05 | 2.9 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 4.11 | 29.71 | 8.8 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 6.66M | 30.64M | 7.1M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 4.82 | 32.12 | 10.5 |
| Florence Airport | 1.88 | 21.24 | 1.5 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 1.90 | 17.85 | -1.0 | Charleston Air Force Base | 1.97 | 19.34 | -2.2 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 2.74 | 24.65 | 2.5 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 72 degrees. Columbia: 76 degrees. Barnwell: 71 degrees. Mullins: 71 degrees.
Due to the active period, much of the state recorded more than an inch of rain, with widespread totals between two and three inches. The stalled low-pressure system contributed to the widespread rainfall and isolated heavy rains in portions of the Midlands and Upstate, where totals ranged from five to seven inches of rain. A CoCoRaHS observer in northern Pickens County recorded 12.83 inches of rain, while another in Orangeburg County measured 10.41 inches. The abnormally dry (D0) conditions persisted in northern portions of Greenville, Pickens, and Oconee counties and mainly around Chesterfield and Florence counties on the Thursday, June 22, release of the United States Drought Monitor map.
The widespread rainfall during the period caused an increase in streamflow values at gauges within the state's watersheds. Portions of the Saluda and Broad rivers received more than five inches of rain during the period, and streamflow values rose from below-normal flows to well above normal. Gauges in the Pee Dee saw an improvement in streamflow values; however, the values reported on the Little Pee Dee River near Galivants Ferry continued to be much below average. Due to the rainfall, many river height values rose into action and minor flood stages, including parts of the Congaree, Edisto, Santee, and Savannah rivers.
