The period started on Monday, December 13, with high pressure over the region, providing a quiet and dry weather pattern through the middle of the week. The dry air mass and light winds allowed for cool overnight temperatures, as lows ranged from the mid-20s in the Upstate to near 40 at the coast. Under mostly sunny skies, daytime temperatures reached the upper 50s to mid-60s. Conditions were similar on Tuesday and Wednesday, though temperatures warmed each day slightly, with highs reaching the mid-60s across the state on Wednesday afternoon.
The high pressure started to shift offshore by Thursday, resulting in southerly flow returning across the state. The flow increased moisture, and a few stray showers were reported, along with partly to mostly cloudy skies. The warmer air also helped high temperatures climb into the upper 60s, up to fifteen degrees warmer than normal. Low temperatures only dropped into the mid- to upper 50s on Friday morning, and the ample moisture helped produce dense fog. Visibilities dropped to less than a quarter of a mile in some locations, including the Anderson County Airport, the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and the Florence Regional Airport. High temperatures soared into the upper 60s to mid-70s across the state, nearly twenty degrees above normal. Some sites reported temperatures in the upper 70s. The National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Charleston International Airport CHS reported a high of 79 degrees, setting a new daily maximum temperature by breaking the previous record of 78 degrees set back in 1971.
The warm weather continued into Saturday, ahead of a cold front that would push through the region late Saturday and into Sunday. Morning temperatures rose from the 50s into the upper 60s in the Upstate, and mid- to upper 70s elsewhere, providing enough instability for thunderstorms to form along the front. Rainfall totals up to two inches were recorded by Sunday morning as the cold front continued to push through the area. Some lingering, light rain and showers were reported in the Midlands, and some locations in the Upstate recorded their daily high temperatures in the morning. Behind the front, temperatures quickly fell, dropping into the upper 40s and low 50s by the early evening.
(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 | 0.60 | 45.37 | 0.2 |
| Greer Airport | 0.74 | 47.93 | 0.1 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.92 | 35.42 | -6.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.39 | 46.90 | 3.2 |
| Orangeburg Airport | MISSING | 36.91M | -5.4M |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 2.22 | 53.35 | 10.9 |
| Florence Airport | 0.11 | 40.48 | -3.4 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.04 | 43.87 | -3.5 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.05 | 57.54 | 6.4 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.42 | 48.74M | 1.9M |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 57 degrees. Columbia: 62 degrees. Barnwell: 56 degrees. Mullins: 60 degrees.
For the second week in a row, appreciable rain fell across portions of the Palmetto State, with some CoCoRaHS observers in Aiken, Edgefield, Lexington, Richland, and Saluda counties recording totals over 1.50 inches. The Charlotte Metro Area and the Upstate picked up close to an inch of rain, with isolated higher amounts. Most of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee stations recorded less than a quarter of an inch of rain during the period, including the major reporting sites in Charleston, Florence, and Myrtle Beach.
With more than half an inch of rainfall across the Midlands and Upstate during the period, there were slight improvements in streamflow values along the Santee and Savannah rivers. The rain provided some relief to these regions' moderate drought and dry conditions. However, areas to the south and east of the Interstate 95 corridor received less rain, and streamflow values continued to be below normal along the streams and tributaries of the Great Pee Dee and Wateree rivers. The gauges on the Little Pee Dee near Galivants Ferry, the Great Pee Dee at Pee Dee, and the Waccamaw near Longs recorded streamflows with less than 10% of normal values. The rainfall did little to alleviate the United States Drought Monitor severe drought designation (D2) in areas along the Pee Dee and Wateree watersheds. All the rivers in the state recorded heights below the flood stage during the period.
