The main stories for the week were the King Tides which caused coastal flooding along portions of the South Carolina coast and the monitoring of Hurricane Dorian as it made its way across the Atlantic Ocean.
The week started on Monday, August 26, with a cool wedge of high pressure lingering across the state, providing cooler than normal temperatures and mainly rain-free conditions during the day. The morning lows across the state ranged from the mid to upper 60's, and high temperatures reached the mid to upper 80's, which were five degrees cooler than normal. The Charleston Harbor tidal gauge recorded a maximum tide of 7.39 feet mean lower low water (MLLW).
The weather shifted to an unsettled pattern as an approaching cold front helped lift a frontal boundary stalled to the south through the state, increasing the chance of rainfall early Tuesday morning through the middle of the week. The National Weather Service (NWS) stations at the Anderson and Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP) Airports reported over an inch of rain, while CoCoRaHS observers in the Upstate recorded rainfall totals up to two inches. Because of the rain on Tuesday, the NWS stations at GSP and located in Caesars Head reported new daily record low maximum temperatures for the day, of 71 and 64 degrees, respectively. By Wednesday, August 28, the front had pushed closer to the coast and produced some strong isolated thunderstorms. A storm spotter reported a waterspout off the coast of Hilton Head Island on Wednesday morning. The Charleston Harbor tidal gauge observed an astronomical high tide value of 7.54 ft. MLLW on Tuesday night and 7.78 ft. MLLW on Wednesday night.
The cold front passed through the state early Thursday and lingered offshore through the remainder of the week. High pressure built in from the west across the state, bringing drier air into the region. Morning temperatures reached the upper 50's to low 60's in a few locations in the Upstate, and high temperatures across much of the state only rose to the mid-80's. On Friday, August 30, the front edged back closer to the coast, allowing more moisture to return, but rain chances remained low and only produced scattered showers during the day. The NWS station in Orangeburg set a new daily record low-temperature value of 55 degrees, breaking the record of 56 degrees set back in 1986, while the station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport tied the record of 58 degrees.
The lingering frontal boundary served to focus most of the scattered shower activity on Saturday and Sunday along the coast, while high-pressure north of the area continued to influence conditions in the Midlands and Upstate. Temperatures returned to near normal values for the end of August, with lows in the upper 60's to low 70's and highs in the upper 80's to low 90's. Elevated tide levels continued as the winds along the coast turned more northeasterly, with most of the highest tides during the period occurring during the evening hours, with minor flooding during the morning high tides. The maximum tide Thursday evening at the Charleston Harbor gauge was 8.02 ft. MLLW, 8.08 ft MLLW on Friday night, 7.92 ft. MLLW on Saturday evening, and 7.61 ft. MLLW on Sunday.
On September 1, Hurricane Dorian, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, made landfall along the coast of Great Abaco Island.
(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 | 1.35 | 26.84 | -3.2 |
| Greer Airport | 1.45 | 36.30 | 3.7 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.03 | 39.14 | 10.4 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.65 | 26.25 | -5.8 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.11 | 17.38 | -16.1 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.44 | 35.51 | 4.5 |
| Florence Airport | 0.09 | 29.29 | -1.3 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.11 | 31.67 | -3.9 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.33 | 30.23 | -5.7 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 1.71 | 29.80 | -4.8 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: Not Available. Columbia: 80 degrees. Barnwell: 75 degrees. Mullins: 72 degrees.
Much of the rainfall over the seven-day period fell in portions of the Savannah River Basin and Upstate. Locations in Anderson and Greenville counties reported up to two inches of rain, and observers reported most of those totals coming from one event. Due to the localized nature of the thunderstorms, isolated amounts up to two inches fell in Allendale and Beaufort counties, while the remainder of the state recorded less than an inch of rain. River levels in those areas that received heavy rain in the Upper Savannah River Basin rose slightly, while those parts of the state that received sparse rainfall observed low river levels. Streamflow values continued to drop in many of the state's streams and rivers, with reported flows below normal for this time of year. Despite the recent rainfall, portions of Allendale, Barnwell and Hampton counties in the Lowcountry and Dillon, Florence, Horry and Marion counties in the Pee Dee continue to be the driest areas of the state. Locations in these areas have reported less than twenty-five inches since the beginning of the year. Totals of over thirty inches in portions of Beaufort, Charleston and Colleton counties were confined to the coast, while interior locations within the counties measured lower amounts. Although rainfall totals in the Upstate over the last 30 days are below normal, the year-to-date rainfall totals in the Upstate remained near to above normal for this time of year, with more than thirty inches reported at many locations and over fifty inches in some of the more mountainous areas.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 83.3 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 82.0 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 83.3 degrees.
