A weak front passed through the region on Monday, lingering across the area before moving north as a warm front, creating conditions for isolated and scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop during the afternoons and evenings. On Tuesday evening, strong thunderstorms in Colleton County caused minor wind damage and produced nickel-sized hail. On Thursday evening, storms in Horry County produced frequent lightning, which caused structural fires in North Myrtle Beach and Little River.
Temperatures were well above average, and high dewpoints from the weekend continued through most of the period, causing heat index values to rise into the upper 90s to over 100 degrees at the beginning of the week. The NWS station on the University of South Carolina campus in Richland County tied or broke the daily record high maximum temperature three days in a row: 104 degrees on June 24, 106 degrees on June 25, and 105 degrees on June 26. In addition to the record maximum temperatures, low temperatures were five to ten degrees above normal. Some NWS stations near the coast recorded lows at or above 80 degrees, including 81 degrees at the Beaufort MCAS and 80 degrees at Charleston International Airport on June 24.
Heat and humidity built up over the region by the end of the period, leading to heat index readings over 100 degrees, with some locations reporting values over 110 degrees. On Sunday afternoon, the NWS station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport reached 112 degrees, and heat indices at the Anderson Regional Airport and Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport reached 103 degrees.
Late in the weekend, a cold front approached the area, bringing a better chance for storms on Sunday, some of which became severe. Lightning caused two different structural fires in Richland County, one near Owens Field and the other near Dentsville. The storms also brought heavy rain, with a CoCoRaHS observer in Forest Acres reporting 3.59 inches of rain in 76 minutes.
(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 | 0.12 | 27.17 | 3.4 |
| Greer Airport | 0.22 | 29.10 | 4.7 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.40 | 23.72 | 2.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.36 | 23.39 | 1.7 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 2.16 | 19.13 | -5.4 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 2.23 | 20.47 | -1.8 |
| Florence Airport | 0.36 | 17.79 | -2.8 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.36 | 16.99 | -2.6 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.40 | 23.38 | 0.8 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.22 | 22.33 | -0.9 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: Not Available. Columbia: 83 degrees. Barnwell: 76 degrees. Mullins: 76 degrees.
Most of the Upper Savannah region recorded less than a quarter of an inch of rain, while the rest of the state reported between half an inch and an inch of precipitation. Isolated parts of the Midlands and Upstate measured between one and two inches of rain due to the scattered nature of thunderstorms in these regions. Interior portions of the Lowcountry, including locations in Allendale, Bamberg, Colleton, and Hampton counties, reported closer to three inches of rain. However, the extent of the abnormally dry (D0) on the U.S. Drought Monitor expanded across the entire state as conditions worsened. Moderate drought (D1) conditions were introduced into forty percent of the state, and severe drought conditions (D2) remained in Clarendon and Sumter counties. The quick degradation of conditions over the past few weeks increased wildfire potential across the state.
Despite higher rainfall totals in portions of the state, the lack of widespread rainfall during the previous periods caused the 14-day average streamflow values at gauges across the state to continue to be below average. The streamflow values at some gauges dropped to well below average values, including many within the Pee Dee Watershed and the headwaters of the Santee-Broad watershed. River height gauges across the state remained below the action stage. Tidal gauges recorded some tide levels reaching the action and minor stage during the relatively dry week.
