SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

October 20 - 26, 2003

WEATHER SUMMARY

High pressure provided for mostly sunny days through mid-week. Afternoon high temperatures on Tuesday climbed into the 80's across eastern sections. A dry boundary of cooler air entered South Carolina early Thursday with cloudiness and a sharp drop in temperatures. Sites over the upstate and into the northern Piedmont observed morning low temperatures in the 30's. Southwesterly surface winds helped bring in moisture and warmer air over the first part of the weekend. A slow moving front, dropping southeast on Sunday, made for a cloudy day and rains over western counties and the higher elevations. The statewide average temperature for the period was two degrees above normal.

The highest temperature reported was 85 degrees at Johnston on October 21. The lowest temperature was 35 degrees at Chester on the morning of October 23. The heaviest 24 hour rainfall was 0.69" at N. Myrtle Beach on October 26. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.0.”

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

                Precipitation                     Temperature
                       Weekly   Jan 1  Deviation      Average  Average
                        Total   Total   From Avg      Maximum  Minimum  Average
         Greer           0.26    56.1       14.1           71       49       60 
      Columbia           0.02    51.9       10.3           76       50       63 
   Augusta, GA           0.01    48.6       10.4           79       50       65 
        Cheraw           0.01    38.2       -2.7           69       51       60 
       Chester           0.00    47.5        7.4           73       41       57 
      Johnston           0.00    46.7        5.2           78       52       65 
        Sumter           0.05    40.4       -1.1           76       48       62
       Clemson           0.00    53.0        8.7           71       47       59
      Florence           0.00    36.9       -0.9           75       48       62 
  Myrtle Beach           0.69    49.0       10.1           71       52       61 
     Allendale           0.00    43.5        3.5           79       48       63 
    Charleston           0.03    45.6        0.4           78       53       66 
      Beaufort           0.00    47.5        4.1           80       55       68 

  

             

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

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 65 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach
and Savannah will average around 69 degrees.