Behind the front over the weekend, high pressure settled over the Southeast on Monday, October 18, that dominated the weather pattern through the middle of the week. Morning low temperatures were about ten degrees below normal, with the upper 30s reported in parts of the Upstate and upper 40s observed at the coast. Daytime temperatures were slightly cooler than normal, climbing into the 70s across the state. By Tuesday, the high pressure began to shift offshore. While minimum temperatures remained slightly below normal, the high temperatures moderated slightly through midweek, with values ranging from the mid-70s to the lower 80s.
Late on Thursday, the warmer than normal temperatures continued as an approaching weak cold front, with limited moisture, triggered a few scattered showers across the Upstate that lasted into Friday morning. Many locations in the Upstate recorded around a tenth of an inch of rain, though some places picked up closer to half an inch of rain. On Friday, the front stalled along the coast, producing isolated showers in parts of Berkeley and Dorchester counties. Even behind the cold front, the Midlands, Pee Dee, and Upstate were warmer than average with highs in the upper 70s to mid-80s.
By early Saturday morning, the front had moved offshore, and another high pressure settled into the region, producing mostly sunny skies and dry weather for the remainder of the period. The mostly clear skies overnight on Saturday and Sunday allowed for radiational cooling to occur, and temperatures dropped to near normal across the state, with many locations recording values between 40 and 55 degrees. Meanwhile, high temperatures on Saturday and Sunday were slightly above normal for the end of October, with highs in the mid-70s reported in the Upstate and upper 70s to low 80s observed elsewhere.
(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 | 0.07 | 41.78 | 4.1 |
| Greer Airport | Trace | 43.88 | 3.3 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.07 | 32.14 | -3.9 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.00 | 42.92 | 4.7 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.00 | 36.38M | -0.9M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.00 | 48.24 | 11.2 |
| Florence Airport | 0.00 | 37.80 | -0.8 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.00 | 40.51 | -0.9 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.00 | 53.27 | 7.4 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.00 | 43.49M | 1.5M |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 69 degrees. Columbia: 69 degrees. Barnwell: 63 degrees. Mullins: 60 degrees.
For the second period in a row, there was a general lack of precipitation during the week, with only a few reports in the Upstate of scattered rain associated with the cold front's passage on Thursday evening and in the Lowcountry on Friday. While most of the state did not record any rain, rainfall totals in isolated pockets ranged between 0.10 and 0.50 inches. Outside of the Upstate, most locations in the Palmetto State are reporting a drier than average October, with some sites reporting less than 50 percent of their normal rainfall over the last 30 days. The rainfall deficits continue to contribute to and worsen the abnormally dry conditions near the Rock Hill/Fort Mill area and the Pee Dee interior.
The dry period allowed for streamflow values along the Upper Santee and Savannah to drop from the much above normal flows due to the heavy rain that fell earlier in the month. Controlled water releases continued along the central Savannah River, creating increased flows and higher river stage heights on the river south of Augusta. Elsewhere, the continued lack of rain in the Midlands and Pee Dee caused some gauges to report below normal flows. Most of the rivers in the state recorded heights below the flood stage during the period.
