The dry and seasonably cooler weather at the start of the week was short-lived, as the high pressure that had dominated the weather pattern began to weaken. Low temperatures in some locations of the Upstate dropped into the mid-50s on Monday and Tuesday mornings, up to ten degrees below normal for early September. High temperatures rose into the mid-80s, as moisture moved back into the region. On Monday, September 7, a USGS rain gauge recorded 2.09 inches of rain in 90 minutes near Port Wentworth along the Savannah River. A surface trough set up along the Carolina coast, and by Wednesday, onshore flow led to strong thunderstorms and heavy rain along the coast. A pilot boat reported a short-lived waterspout about 16 miles southeast of Sullivan’s Island. Several personal weather stations near Pawley’s Island reported over six inches of rainfall, including two CoCoRaHS observers. The heavy rain caused flash flooding in low-lying parts of the town.
The later part of the workweek and start of the weekend was marked by a stalled surface boundary across the state that caused conditions to lead to warmer than normal minimum temperatures. From Thursday to Saturday morning, sixteen high minimum temperatures were either tied or broken over the three days. On Friday, the National Weather Service (NWS) station near Clarks Hill in McCormick County set a new daily high minimum temperature of 74 degrees, one degree higher than the previous record of 73 degrees in 1964.
With the unsettled pattern in place across the Southeast, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed during the weekend in portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions. On Friday, September 11, an individual was struck by lightning near Jasper. For most of the weekend, strong rip currents were observed along portions of the SC coastline, and on Sunday, September 13, two children and an adult were rescued from rip currents on the west end of Folly Beach.
Thursday, September 10, marked the official peak of hurricane season. While there was no tropical system threatening the state, interests were actively monitoring two named storms (Paulette and Rene) and multiple disturbances across the Atlantic Basin.
(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 | 0.24 | 46.16 | 14.9 |
| Greer Airport | 0.64 | 54.46 | 20.4 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.10 | 38.96 | 9.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.59 | 44.51 | 10.9 |
| Orangeburg Airport | Trace | 31.22 | -3.8 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.21 | 44.72 | 12.4 |
| Florence Airport | 0.75 | 47.30 | 15.1 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.62 | 37.77 | -0.8 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.32 | 40.14 | 1.5 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 2.57 | 40.92 | 4.3 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 79 degrees. Columbia: 81 degrees. Barnwell: 75 degrees. Mullins: 69 degrees.
Rainfall over the period was relatively scattered, with most of the state reporting less than a half of an inch of precipitation. Some parts of the state received rain, with locations along the coast and in mountainous portions of the Upstate measuring more than three inches. CoCoRaHS observers in Beaufort County reported close to four inches of rain early in the period. Two observers in the Pawley’s Island area recorded over six inches of rain from a localized thunderstorm that caused flash flooding. Radar estimates and observations confirmed up to five inches of rain fell in areas near Table Rock. Despite the year-to-date rainfall totals across the state continued to be near- to above-normal values, places in the Midlands continued to show signs of dryness due to recent the lack of rain in the region.
The USGS streamflow data across the state continued to drop and were lower than the data from the previous week due to a lack of widespread rainfall over the region. Most of the gauges are reporting normal values at 14- and 28-days, though there are a few gauges in the Pee Dee region with values slightly above normal.
