SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

January 14 - 20, 2002

WEATHER SUMMARY

Clouds and showers covered the eastern half of the state on Monday. Mild weather was observed on Tuesday before cloudy skies and cooler conditions returned on Wednesday. A quick push of warmer air caused dense fog over the state on Thursday morning with visibilities reduced in some area to less than one quarter of a mile. A slow moving boundary on Saturday provided the focus for widespread rains especially over the upstate. While the western counties on Saturday reported afternoon temperatures in the upper 30's, southerly winds near the coast helped the temperature rise into the 70's. Mostly cloudy skies and cooler weather ended the week. For the period, the state average temperature was two degrees above normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature was 77 degrees at Allendale on January 19. The lowest temperature reported was 21 degrees at Union and Lake Bowen on the morning of January 16. The greatest 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.05" at Antreville ending at 7:00 a.m. on January 20. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.8".

                     Precipitation
               Period    2002    Deviation*           Temperature
Location        Total   Total     From Avg.        Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            1.64    2.65         0.1B            58        26                         	              		
Columbia         0.38    1.93         1.1B            70        27
Florence         0.22    1.29         1.4B            70        30	        
Charleston       0.56    2.29         0.6B            72        32
N Myrtle Beach   0.14    0.59         1.8B            66        31
Augusta, Ga.     0.39    2.18         0.7B            NA        25
*A=Above, B=Below                                                                        
 
       

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the period ending midnight Monday through midnight Sunday

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 46 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were below normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 50 degrees.