The main stories for the period were the continued lack of substantial precipitation and the wild temperature swings. The abnormally warm temperatures from the previous period continued on Monday, October 30. Morning low temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s rose into the mid-80s, up to fifteen degrees above normal, under primarily clear skies. The National Weather Service (NWS) stations at the Charleston International Airport and the Florence Regional Airport tied their daily maximum temperature records of 85 degrees in 1949 and 86 degrees in 2016, respectively. This pattern changed as a cold front rapidly pushed through the area on Halloween morning, followed by a reinforcing cold front during the evening hours. Maximum temperatures only reached the low to mid-60s, up to ten degrees cooler than average. And despite the cloudy skies, limited rain fell over the region.
Behind the front, temperatures felt more like those of December and January rather than the first day of November. Many stations dropped below freezing, and frost was reported in some areas on Wednesday morning, with low temperatures in the 30s and 40s. High temperatures did not make it out of the 50s statewide and were up to twenty degrees below normal. The NWS station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport tied its daily low maximum temperature record of 55 degrees, set in 2014. Freeze warnings were issued for most of the state overnight, and those stations that did not drop below freezing on Wednesday did so on Thursday morning. Hard freeze conditions were reported across much of the state as temperatures dropped into the mid to upper 20s, up to twenty degrees below normal. The NWS station near Spartanburg recorded a low of 24 degrees, breaking the previous daily low record temperature of 25 degrees in 1993. Highs on Thursday were still cooler than average, rising into the mid to upper 50s by late afternoon.
By Friday, November 3, the growing season had officially ended at many locations across the state. Temperatures again dropped into the mid to upper 20s, with 28 degrees observed at the NWS station in Darlington and 26 degrees at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. High temperatures were still cooler than normal but started to moderate back to normal, reaching the mid to upper 60s. Morning temperatures on Saturday and Sunday were still cool, with temperatures in the upper 20s to upper 30s, while daytime temperatures climbed into the mid to upper 70s by Sunday afternoon.
The Charleston Harbor Tidal Gauge recorded high astronomical tides ranging between 7.01 feet and 7.55 feet MLLW starting on Monday and lasting through Thursday, causing shallow to moderate flooding in low-lying coastal areas, and there were reports of flooding in downtown Charleston on flood-prone streets.
(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 | 0.00 | 41.22 | 2.4 |
| Greer Airport | Trace | 45.94 | 4.1 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | Trace | 37.37 | 0.1 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | Trace | 47.55 | 8.3 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.00 | 52.12 | 8.0 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | Trace | 56.38 | 18.4 |
| Florence Airport | Trace | 40.68 | 1.1 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | Trace | 36.12 | -6.5 | Charleston Air Force Base | Trace | 45.94 | -1.0 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.01 | 36.34 | -6.6 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 55 degrees. Columbia: 61 degrees. Barnwell: 55 degrees. Mullins: 59 degrees.
For the second period in a row, most of the National Weather Service and CoCoRaHS observers reported no rainfall, and a limited number of stations recorded totals of less than a tenth of an inch of precipitation. The US Drought Monitor (USDM) map released on November 2 showed an increased spatial extent of severe drought (D2) conditions in the Upstate. Based on current precipitation deficits and other indicators, including soil moisture and streamflow, D2 conditions were expanded into portions of Cherokee, Oconee, Pickens, Union, and York counties. Moderate drought (D1) and abnormally dry (D0) conditions expanded across most of the northern Midlands and the Pee Dee. The lack of rainfall led to the introduction of D0 conditions along the South Carolina coast, from Beaufort County to Georgetown County.
The 14-day average streamflow values continued to show decreased flows, especially at gauges in the Broad, Catawba, Pee Dee, Saluda, and Upper Savannah river basins, which dropped to much below normal values. A few of the gauges in the ACE River Basin reported 14-day average streamflow values within the normal range due to rainfall from a previous period. While the river height gauges across the state reported levels below flood stage, tidal gauges reached minor to moderate heights on Monday through Thursday due to astronomically high tides.
