The main weather story for the period was the continued hot and humid conditions across the Palmetto State. High temperatures mainly ranged from the mid to upper 90s, with overnight temperatures in the low to mid-70s. The combination of heat and humidity provided another round of heat index values over 100 degrees but below any advisory criteria for the forecast areas across the state. With a more summerlike pattern, isolated strong to severe storms developed during the afternoon throughout the period.
On Monday, August 1, a stationary front to the north of the region and a weak trough in the Midlands that lingered through the middle of the week helped to develop showers and thunderstorms. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at Long Creek in Pickens County tied a record high minimum temperature of 70 degrees on Monday morning, set in 2010, and the Charleston International Airport broke a high overnight temperature record on Tuesday morning with a low 79 degrees. The previous record for the day was 78 degrees, set in 1993. Conditions along the coast were favorable for developing weak to moderate rip currents.
By midweek, increased moisture across the state and the sea breeze front caused strong thunderstorms in locations east and south of Interstate 20. There were multiple reports of downed trees due to thunderstorm winds in Saint George in Dorchester County, near Edisto, Norway, and Rowesville in Orangeburg County. Nickel-sized hail was also reported in Orangeburg County. Additional thunderstorms on Thursday produced strong winds in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area and knocked down trees near Tega Cay in York County.
High pressure that dominated the region on Friday continued to control the weather pattern through the weekend, but there was still a chance for showers and thunderstorms. There were more widespread showers and thunderstorms on Saturday. Lightning struck near the radar at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, knocking the radar offline, and heavy rains in Lexington County flooded some low-lying roads. There were multiple reports of waterspouts off Edisto Island, Fort Sumter, and Sullivan’s Island on Sunday morning. The high pressure remained in control of the weather heading into the new work week.
(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 | 0.19 | 22.07 | -6.3 |
| Greer Airport | 0.29 | 32.65 | 2.2 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.78 | 26.56 | 0.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.50 | 26.25 | -2.1 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.85s | 33.95s | 2.3s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.41 | 31.82 | 3.9 |
| Florence Airport | 1.48 | 24.65 | -2.9 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.01 | 28.61 | 2.4 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.11 | 27.00 | -3.8 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 1.55 | 20.53 | -9.7 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 80 degrees. Columbia: 81 degrees. Barnwell: 76 degrees. Mullins: 73 degrees.
Much of the state reported between half an inch of rain and an inch during the seven days; however, some areas received less, and other locations measured over an inch of rain due to slow-moving, isolated thunderstorms. The highest amounts were recorded in northern portions of Greenville and Pickens counties, where some CoCoRaHS observers reported between three and seven inches of rain. The rainfall during the period helped improve abnormally dry (D0) conditions in parts of Cherokee and Spartanburg counties. Moderate drought (D1) conditions were introduced into Anderson County, and there was an expansion of D0 that persisted across the Lowcountry due to the lack of widespread precipitation.
With the lack of widespread precipitation, streamflow values continued to decline for the second period. Gauges that reported flows on the lower side of the normal percentile range last week dropped to flow values below normal for the beginning of August, including those on the Broad, Congaree, and Santee rivers. All the state’s rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
