The pattern of cloudy, rainy weather lingered into the first of the week. Areas of heavy rain preceding Monday's daylight brought 2.05 inches to Pelion, 1.32 inches to Saluda and 1.23 inches to McCormick. Light rain, drizzle or mist continued though Tuesday before clearing late. Seasonal cold and sunny skies were observed on Wednesday. Rock Hill and Dillon reported a freezing 28 degrees for their morning low temperature. Instruments at the Newberry County Airport recorded a crest of barometric pressure at 10:00 a.m. of 30.51 inches of mercury. December rainfall for the 31 days ranged from 5.76 inches at Johnston to 3.01 inches at Travelers Rest. The New Year of 2015 arrived with a brief wedge of freezing air. Walhalla, Fountain Inn and Cedar Creek all recorded a minimum temperature of 25 degrees. Marion, Hemingway and Allendale all noted a hard freeze of 28 degrees. Before the day ended, spotty showers began falling across the Upstate. Showers turned into rain, sometimes heavy, for Friday and Saturday. The Greenville-Spartanburg AP 3:00 p.m. observation on Saturday indicated heavy rain. A warming boundary approached from the south on Saturday evening producing widespread fog. At 7:38 p.m., the Charleston Harbor Pilot Boat reported zero visibility at the harbor entrance and at 9:00 p.m., the Charleston AP reported visibilities reduced to one-eighth of a mile. Rainfall amounts measured for the twenty-four-hours ending on Sunday morning included 2.21 inches at Jocassee Dam, 1.13 inches at Sandy Springs and 1.00 inches at Summerville. Clusters of soaking rains moved northward on Sunday for the coastal plain and later across the Upstate just ahead of a southeastward-moving cold front. Non-thunderstorm winds gusted to 47 mph at Columbia Metro AP at 1:44 p.m. At 2:17 p.m., Florence Regional AP recorded their high temperature of 76 degrees. Conway, Georgetown and Beaufort all reached 77 degrees, nearly 20 degrees warmer than the date's usual high temperature reading. Shaw AFB in Sumter measured 0.97 inches of rain within two hours on Sunday afternoon. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was six degrees above the long-term average.
The highest official temperature reported was 79 degrees at Myrtle Beach International AP on January 4. The lowest official temperature reported was 23 degrees
at Hunts Bridge and Ninety Nine Islands on January 2. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.98 inches at Caesars Head ending at 7:00 a.m. on January 4. The state average
rainfall for the seven-day period was 0.9 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Anderson AP 1.89 1.63 1.1
Greer AP 2.28 1.91 1.4
Charlotte, NC AP 1.28 0.63 0.2
Columbia Metro AP 0.81 0.66 0.2
Orangeburg AP 0.36 0.21 -0.3
Augusta, GA Bush AP 0.45 0.38 -0.1
Florence AP 0.20 0.17 -0.3
N Myrtle Beach AP 0.41 0.31 -0.2
Charleston AP 0.59 0.40 -0.1
Savannah, GA AP 0.65 0.52 0.1
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 56 degrees, Charleston 62 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were near to above normal. Charleston Harbor reported a water temperature of 56 degrees and Springmaid Pier at Myrtle Beach reported a surf water temperature of 53 degrees.
