At 8:00 a.m. on Monday, Myrtle Beach reported dense fog and a visibility of 1/16 of a mile. At their last observation near midnight, the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station remarked "thunder with fog." Sumter's Shaw Air Force Base noted a visibility of "zero" at 2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. The convergence along the warm boundary produced rainfall amounts of 1.19 inches at Pritchardville and 1.09 inches at Beaufort. Afternoon high temperatures reached into the middle 70's near the coast. Colder air arrived Wednesday and by Thursday morning, much of the state observed temperatures at or below freezing. A Gulf-origin storm feature began affecting the state early Friday. Greenville reported snow flurries at 9:00 a.m. A cold and blowing rain fell over locations east of the South Carolina mountains. Caesars Head and Landrum received heavy snows measuring six inches on the ground. The Georgetown Airport received 4.10 inches of rain during the event. Street flooding occurred in Georgetown County and in parts of Charleston County from 3.83 inches that fell on downtown Charleston. At 1:06 a.m. on Saturday morning, Springmaid Pier in Myrtle Beach noted a barometric pressure value of 29.34 inches of mercury. It was cold and cloudy Saturday with afternoon temperatures in the 40's. Partly sunny weather helped with drying Sunday but the limited warming observed at Edisto Beach with 56 degrees indicated the state's cold conditions on the last day of autumn. The state average temperature for the period was one degree below normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 77 degrees at Edisto Beach on December 15. The lowest official temperature reported was 23 degrees at Chesnee on December 17. The heaviest official 24-hour rain reported was 6.00 inches at McClellanville ending at 7:00 a.m. on December 19. The state average rainfall for the period was 1.9 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Greer 1.43 51.04 2.2
Anderson 1.85 54.70 9.4
Columbia 2.02 51.64 4.7
Orangeburg 1.90 44.54 -2.4
Charlotte, NC 0.92 45.56 3.2
Augusta, GA 1.95 48.47 5.2
Florence 1.02 38.81 -4.6
N Myrtle Beach 2.98 44.26 -0.2
Charleston 3.47 54.93 4.7
Savannah, GA 3.00 60.41 12.0
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 49 degrees, Charleston 53 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were above normal. Ocean water temperatures at nearby Fort Pulaski, GA, were reported at 55 degrees and at Ocean Crest Pier, NC, 55 degrees.
