On Monday, September 5, a stalled front near and along the Savannah River and plenty of moisture streaming out of the Gulf of Mexico and across the southeast provided persistent cloud cover and increased showers and thunderstorms. The Burrells Ford Campground near Pine Mountain, along the Georgia and South Carolina border, had to be evacuated on Monday due to the heavy rains. There was a bit of a reprieve from the rain on Tuesday, with only isolated showers and thunderstorms reported across the state. Temperatures were near average, with lows in the 70s and highs in the upper 80s.
On Wednesday, a frontal boundary slowly moved southward over the region, causing widespread rain. By Thursday morning, the front had pushed offshore, becoming stationary along the Georgia coast as a small area of low-pressure developed near the Florida Panhandle. Daytime temperatures were five to ten degrees below normal before cooler, and drier air moved into the region. Temperatures on Friday morning dropped into the low to mid-60s at many locations in the Midlands and Upstate.
Rain chances increased during Friday, and there was the chance of excessive rainfall for much of the state through Sunday morning. A king tide cycle, combined with high swells from Hurricane Earl, and onshore winds, created significant flooding issues in coastal portions of the state. The Charleston Harbor tidal gauge recorded a high tide of 8.14 ft MLLW, and the City of Charleston reported multiple road closures in low-lying areas. Social media videos and photos showed streets inundated with saltwater. Heavy rain and storms were reported in portions of the state on Saturday as a warm front lifted northward over the Southeast. A waterspout was reported near Pawleys Island within the marsh. The National Weather Service in Charleston confirmed an EF0 tornado damaged a building and knocked down trees near Cainhoy in Charleston County. The National Weather Service station at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport recorded a high of 68 degrees on Saturday, just one degree higher than the daily low maximum temperature record of 67 degrees set in 2017. Additional scattered showers and thunderstorms popped up on Sunday, and ample moisture would remain across the region heading into the workweek.
(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 | 1.48 | 26.37 | -6.4 |
| Greer Airport | 3.56 | 39.93 | 4.7 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.93 | 30.43 | -0.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.96 | 31.19 | -1.9 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 1.74s | 41.51s | 4.4s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.70 | 39.22 | 6.5 |
| Florence Airport | 2.14 | 29.11 | -3.8 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 2.31 | 37.39 | 3.4 | Charleston Air Force Base | 1.57 | 38.96 | 0.5 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 2.86 | 31.97 | -4.2 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 75 degrees. Columbia: 78 degrees. Barnwell: 74 degrees. Mullins: Not Available.
The unsettled weather pattern during the period helped develop widespread rainfall across the state. Most locations measured at least half an inch of rain, with totals over five inches recorded in some areas. Areas north of the Interstate 85 corridor measured between two and five inches, with northern parts of Greenville and Pickens counties reporting close to eight inches of rain. A CoCoRaHS observer near Slater-Marietta reported 7.56 inches during the period. Most of the Lowcountry saw widespread totals of around an inch; however, observers on Edisto Island recorded nearly eight inches of rain, with one observer picking up 9.05 inches. The Grand Strand picked up between three and five inches of rain, while interior portions of the Pee Dee and most of the Midlands measured between two and three inches of rain.
With heavy rain falling over portions of Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens counties, streamflow gauges in the headwaters of the Santee and Savannah watersheds surged to flows much above average. Some gauges along tributaries of the Broad, Santee, and Wateree rivers continued to report 14-day average streamflow values below normal, including gauges on the Congaree River near Columbia recorded values that were below average. Elsewhere, gauges in the ACE and Pee Dee watersheds measured average streamflow values. All the state’s rivers observed heights below the flood stage.
