On Monday, December 18, stations that reported their 24-hour rainfall totals in the morning measured between six and twelve inches of rain from Sunday’s event, which caused widespread reports of flooded and washed-out roads in Charleston, Georgetown, and Horry counties. Temperatures behind the system were between ten and fifteen degrees below normal on Tuesday and Wednesday. Low temperatures on Tuesday were in the mid to upper 20s, with freezing temperatures reported at some coastal locations, including a minimum temperature of 31 degrees recorded at the National Weather Service (NWS) station at North Myrtle Beach. Despite clear skies, daytime temperatures struggled to reach the mid-to-upper 40s across much of the state on Tuesday and only reached the low 50s on Wednesday.
By Thursday, the high pressure centered over the Appalachians provided plenty of sunshine and clear skies across the state. Temperatures began moderating to above-normal values headed into the holiday weekend, which was very different from the temperatures experienced during this period of 2022, as dry conditions prevailed. While overnight temperatures were below average and dropped below freezing at many locations, the maximum temperatures were in the upper 50s to low 60s. The high pressure slowly shifted eastward, ahead of a storm system that developed in the central US and impacted the weather at the end of the period. The southerly flow helped high temperatures on Friday climb into the mid-60s, and the rise continued throughout the weekend, reaching the upper 60s and low 70s by Sunday afternoon.
(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 | Trace | 43.96 | -1.4 |
| Greer Airport | Trace | 49.14 | 0.5 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.00 | 43.72 | 1.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.00 | 54.01 | 9.7 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.03 | 57.14 | 7.6 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.00 | 62.18 | 19.1 |
| Florence Airport | 0.03 | 46.00 | 1.5 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.18 | 43.41 | -4.4 | Charleston Air Force Base | Trace | 51.17 | -0.6 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | Trace | 41.18 | -6.2 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 53 degrees. Columbia: 57 degrees. Barnwell: 50 degrees. Mullins: 57 degrees.
Conditions were dry throughout the period, with little to no rain falling across the state. The heavy rain across portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee at the end of the previous period led to improved conditions, with the elimination of moderate drought (D1) from the regions and a decreased area experiencing abnormally dry (D0) conditions on the December 21 release of the US Drought Monitor (USDM) map. However, extreme (D3) drought conditions persisted across parts of the Upstate due to a lack of beneficial rains in the previous period.
The rain during the previous period caused improvements in streamflow values in the 14-day average streamflow values in portions of the Lowcountry, Midlands, and Pee Dee regions. Most of the gauges along streams and tributaries reported values within normal ranges or above normal values. However, areas of the Upstate continued to miss out on beneficial rainfall and gauges within the Broad, Catawba, and Saluda river basins showed much below normal values. Heavy rain across the Pee Dee caused some river heights to rise into the action and minor flood stages, while other gauges, including tidal gauges, across the state reported levels below the flood stage.
