On Monday, October 5, a surface high pressure centered north of the area, extend into the Carolinas and Georgia, provided seasonal weather through mid-week. The dry air mass suppressed widespread rainfall across the state, and temperatures were near-normal, with morning temperatures in the upper 40s to mid-50s, and maximum temperatures reaching the upper 70s to lower 80s. Moisture started to increase in the Southeast on Tuesday, helping to form dense morning fog. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport reported visibility of less than a quarter of a mile, and other airport locations in the Midlands, including Florence, Orangeburg, and Rock Hill, measured visibilities of less than two miles.
By midweek, Hurricane Delta rapidly intensified from a tropical depression into a Category 4 hurricane before making landfall near Cancun, Mexico. It continued to move into the Gulf of Mexico. Rain chances remained low, but moisture continued to increase across the region. A high pressure built in over the area, causing warming temperatures through the rest of the period. On Thursday, despite low temperatures being close to normal, daytime temperatures were between ten and fifteen degrees warmer than normal. The NWS stations at Charleston International Airport, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and the Orangeburg Municipal Airport reported maximum temperatures of 88 degrees.
Moisture and cloud cover increased as Delta moved northward from Louisiana into the Tennessee Valley over the weekend, bringing a slight chance of severe weather across the Palmetto State. Mild weather and above-average low and high temperatures continued through the rest of the period. Rain began to spread over the area on Friday. The heaviest rainfall occurred in the Upstate and along the coast on Saturday and near the Charlotte area on Sunday. On Saturday, the NWS station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport recorded a non-thunderstorm wind gust of 41 mph. As thunderstorms moved through the state on Sunday, many communities in Laurens County, including Clinton, Laurens, and Waterloo, reported downed trees and snapped limbs. Storms also spawned three tornadoes in the Pee Dee region. An EF1 tornado, with maximum winds of 105 mph, crossed Interstate 95 between Latta and Dillon near mile marker 184, mainly snapping trees, damaging a billboard, and causing roof damage to a nearby shed. Two other tornadoes touched down in Horry County. The first, near Conway, damaged multiple structures and was rated an EF1 with maximum winds of 100 mph. The second was in Red Hill, an EF0 with 80 mph winds, that downed trees and knocked over fences near the Bridgewater Community.
As Delta moved away from the area, an upper-level trough approaching the eastern U.S. kept a chance of rain in the forecast at the beginning of 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 | 0.97 | 51.28 | 16.7 |
| Greer Airport | 2.26 | 61.40 | 24.2 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 4.29 | 46.88 | 13.8 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.46 | 48.88 | 12.2 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.00 | 35.16 | -3.5 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 1.08 | 51.09 | 15.7 |
| Florence Airport | 0.61 | 54.11 | 18.7 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 1.76 | 45.72 | 2.6 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 1.73 | 48.69 | 5.3 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.05 | 44.42 | 3.9 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 70 degrees. Columbia: 74 degrees. Barnwell: 69 degrees. Mullins: 72 degrees.
Conditions across the state Monday through Thursday were mainly dry, with isolated and scattered storms producing daily amounts less than a quarter of an inch. The main precipitation event occurred at the end of the period, as the remnants of Hurricane Delta and associated tropical moisture moved into the region. In total, most of the state reported at least half of an inch of rainfall, though parts of the Upstate received closer to four inches. Radar estimates show two to three inches of rain fell near the Charlotte Metropolitan area and another three to four inches along coastal Georgetown and Horry counties. Most of the year-to-date rainfall totals across the state continued to be above-normal, with the recent rains bringing totals in portions of the Central Savannah River Area and southern Midlands that were drier closer to normal.
With most of the rain falling in the Upstate, streamflow values rose above normal, with some of the gauges in the higher elevations near the state line reporting well above normal streamflow. Similarly, areas of the Pee Dee that received the heaviest rains from the remnants of Hurricane Delta saw an increase in the streamflow values. With water moving through the Yadkin-Pee Dee Basin, river stage heights were forecasted to rise into minor flood stage along some of the watershed rivers. The upcoming period should be dry, which will allow the streamflow values and stage heights to drop slowly.
