The entire period (August 10 to August 16) was marked by a return to typical summertime conditions, with temperatures near to slightly above normal and scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening hours each day. While the widespread threat of severe thunderstorms was relatively low, some smaller pulse thunderstorms reached severe limits.
A hot, humid, and unstable air mass remained positioned across the Southeast through the week, the result of the Bermuda high offshore and a persistent upper-level trough. The weak surface low over the area helped promote the development of strong thunderstorms. On Tuesday, some of these storms in the Upstate caused minor tree damage near Seneca and Walhalla. By Wednesday, increased moisture moved into the area with the weak surface low positioned over the Central Savannah River Area. At the end of the workweek, storms produced pea-sized hail near Kershaw, and locally heavy rain caused flash flooding in the Spartanburg area. The National Weather Service (NWS) station in Walhalla recorded a 24-hour rainfall total of 3.20 inches, ending on August 14, Friday morning, which broke the daily record of 2.00 inches set back in 1951.
Under mostly cloudy skies, most of the stations across the state struggled to reach 90 degrees over the weekend, despite the warm start to Saturday morning, with many locations reporting lows in the mid to upper 70s. A weak low pressure developed over northern Georgia, and the southerly flow continued to funnel moisture into the Carolinas. Thunderstorms formed in the Lowcountry, and lightning struck multiple structures and trees near Jedburg and Knightsville in Dorchester County. The storms also produced between three to four inches of rain in both Berkeley and Dorchester counties, and a WeatherFlow station on the Isle of Palms recorded a wind gust of 40 mph. Rain helped eased some of the emerging dry conditions in the Lowcountry and lower Savannah.
(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 | 1.09 | 43.53 | 15.9 |
| Greer Airport | 1.34 | 51.84 | 21.4 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.43 | 36.14 | 9.6 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.25 | 41.12 | 11.9 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 1.68 | 30.48 | -0.4 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.61 | 42.05 | 13.2 |
| Florence Airport | 0.75 | 44.23 | 16.2 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.41 | 35.21 | 3.9 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 1.89 | 34.99 | 3.0 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.63 | 34.67 | 3.4 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 82 degrees. Columbia: 80 degrees. Barnwell: 76 degrees. Mullins: 68 degrees.
During the period, widespread showers and thunderstorms produced at least half an inch of rain across much of the state. However, some areas received higher rainfall totals under slow-moving storms. Parts of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee, mainly along the Interstate 95 corridor, and some locations within Oconee and Pickens counties, saw totals of three or more inches. Some areas of the Midlands and Upstate recorded less than a third of an inch of rain. The year-to-date rainfall totals are near- to above-normal values across much of the state, mainly due to the above-normal rainfall from the first part of the year. However, the recent warm temperatures and lack of precipitation led to deteriorating conditions in portions of the Lower Savannah River Basin and Lowcountry.
The recent rains from Hurricane Isaias across the Carolinas, along with some locally heavy rain, helped increase streamflow values across the state. Gauge data from the USGS shows most of the gauges are reporting normal to much above-normal values at 14-days. However, averaged streamflow data over the last 28-days show some of the values in the regions that have not received as much beneficial rainfall during the previous two weeks indicate areas that are slightly below normal.
