SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

September 16 - 22, 2002

WEATHER SUMMARY

Cloudy, humid conditions were observed early in the week with afternoon temperatures in the 80's. Showers and scattered thunderstorms began before noon on Wednesday and continued into Thursday. Cooler temperatures were recorded due to the cloud cover and periodic rainfalls. Mostly sunny weather continued throughout the weekend with afternoon high temperatures in the 80's and only spotty shower. For the period, the state average temperature was three degrees above normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 93 degrees at Orangeburg on September 17. The lowest temperature was 61degrees at Salem, Hunts Bridge and Longcreek on the morning of September 16. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 6.20" at Pelion ending at 7:00 a.m. on September 19. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.6."

                     Precipitation
               Period     2002     Deviation*           Temperature
Location        Total    Total      From Avg.       Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            0.55    31.41          6.4B           86         65                       	              	
Columbia         1.36    34.20          4.0B           88         68
Florence         0.18    27.75          7.2B           87         65	        
Charleston       0.04    38.86          2.4B           89         67
N Myrtle Beach   0.75    26.84          7.9B           86         67
Augusta, Ga.     1.59    29.13          5.6B           88         68 
A=Above, B=Below                                                                       
                                                              
                         

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the 24-hour period ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 80 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages are near to below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 80 degrees.