June 13, 2019
The S.C. Drought Response Committee met Thursday, June 13, via conference call to update the drought statuses for South Carolina counties.
The drought declaration was removed completely for Oconee, Pickens and Anderson counties. The incipient drought status was maintained in Greenville, Spartanburg, Cherokee, Union, York, Chester, Lancaster and Kershaw counties. The drought status improved to incipient for the remaining 35 counties.
The weather pattern across South Carolina for most of May was dominated by excessive heat and very dry conditions. Thankfully, the pattern changed over the last eight days. The large ridge of high pressure that was responsible for the hot dry weather was replaced by a trough of low pressure which produced more clouds, rain and cooler weather.
Hope Mizzell, S.C. State Climatologist, stated: “We went from excessive heat to excessive rain in some areas. There are probably questions on how we have flooding and drought at the same time. The 8-day rainfall totals were highly variable ranging from only 1.34 inches at Fort Lawn to 16.46 inches in Bluffton. The rainfall variability within Charleston County alone ranged from 3.23 inches to 10.35 inches. Ten inches is enough to end a drought, three inches is not.
CoCoRaHS Rainfall Totals (inches) June 7 – June 13, 2019
| Station Name | Total Precip. (inches) |
|---|---|
| Fort Lawn 1.1 NW | 1.24 |
| Hartsville 3.6 WSW | 1.69 |
| Lancaster 2.0 NNW | 1.95 |
| Pageland 9.0 WNW | 2.27 |
| Oakland 1.5 NE | 2.35 |
| North Myrtle Beach 3.5 ENE | 2.41 |
| Silverstreet 5.7 WNW | 2.55 |
| Surfside Beach 1.0 NE | 2.6 |
| Spartanburg 5.1 | 2.69 |
| Clio 1.6 WNW | 2.7 |
| Tega Cay 1.0 WSW | 2.79 |
| Darlington 0.3 ENE | 3.02 |
| Anderson 10.5 SC | 3.04 |
| Union 2.3 NNE | 3.18 |
| Mounta Pleasant 2.1 S | 3.23 |
| Rock Hill 4.1 WNW | 3.25 |
| Ware Shoals 2.5 ENE | 3.32 |
| Gaffney 3.5 SW | 3.38 |
| Elloree 2.2 WSW | 3.4 |
| Kingstree 7.9 NW | 3.44 |
| Camden 6.6 NE | 3.55 |
| Greenville 4.0 ESE | 3.76 |
| Ridgeville 1.3 SSW | 3.76 |
| Station Name | Total Precip. (inches) |
|---|---|
| Ridge Springs 0.4 SSW | 3.78 |
| St. Stephens 0.4 ENE | 3.93 |
| Easley 5.6 S | 3.96 |
| Allendale 1.7 SE | 3.98 |
| Leesville 10.6 NNE | 4.06 |
| Chapin .3 E | 4.21 |
| Edgefield 3.3 N | 4.29 |
| Georgetown 11.2 SW | 4.32 |
| Saluda 6.1 SW | 442 |
| North Augusta 1.5 SWS | 4.45 |
| Swansea 3.9 ENE | 4.47 |
| Santee 6.9 WSW | 4.52 |
| Graniteville 1.2 NE | 4.6 |
| Summerville 1.4 SSW | 4.86 |
| Goose Creek 4.6 WNW | 4.94 |
| Westminster 6.0 WNW | 4.96 |
| Columbia 7.4 N | 5.01 |
| Iva 6.4 SSW | 5.11 |
| Blythewood 5.8 W | 5.41 |
| Greenwood 1.4 N | 5.43 |
| McClellanville 0.5 ESE | 5.48 |
| Slater-Marietta 6.4 NW | 5.53 |
| Station Name | Total Precip. (inches) |
|---|---|
| Brunson 4.1 ENE | 5.58 |
| Walterboro 3.0 NNW | 5.74 |
| Travelers Rest9 N | 6.06 |
| North Charleston 4.4 W | 6.11 |
| Ehrhardt 0.2 SE | 6.15 |
| Walhalla 1.8 S | 6.26 |
| Hampton 0.3 WSW | 6.62 |
| Campobello 2.7 WSW | 6.93 |
| Cottageville 5.8 WSW | 7.04 |
| Springfield 4.0 WNW | 7.88 |
| Moncks Corner 8.9 S | 8.07 |
| Myrtle Beach 5.0 WNW | 8.39 |
| Beaufort 1.6 SSW | 8.76 |
| Edisto Beach 5.4 NNW | 9.25 |
| Williston 4.3 NNW | 10.07 |
| Wadamalaw Island 2.3 SSW | 10.35 |
| Green Pond 1.3S | 11.12 |
| Lexington 5.6 SW | 11.22 |
| Hilton Head Island 4.0 N | 13 |
| Ridgeland 5.8 ESE | 13.78 |
| Bluffton 2.9 ENE | 16.46 |
The recent rainfall, along with higher humidity, has helped reduce the number of wildfires statewide. This was very much needed, since the state was well above the 5-year and 10-year averages for the number of fires just a week ago. Streamflows and lake levels have also responded to the rain. Many flows went from the 10th-percentile flow to the 90th-percentile in one week.
Unfortunately, the rain came too late to save some dry-land corn, but planting is resuming for soybeans and wrapping up for cotton and peanuts. The rain has also certainly helped with forages and pastures.
The committee will continue to monitor the weather and will meet again in July. More information about drought conditions and drought policy in South Carolina is available at www.scdrought.com.