A red cast to early morning clouds Monday signaled the approach of unsettled winter weather. Precipitation in the form of rain and light freezing rain Tuesday morning verified the age old prediction. Daytime temperatures remained in the 30's. Cloudy, windy conditions followed into Thursday. Arctic high pressure, positioning just north of the state, cleared skies on Friday and sent minimum temperatures into the teens and twenties. On Saturday, counties across the central midlands, north and westward observed their first winter type storm of the season. Sleet, freezing rain and snow were reported. The heaviest snow amounts were upstate where some totals exceeded six inches. A layer of freezing rain over the snow contributed to hundreds of vehicle accidents, downed trees and power failures. At the end of the day on Sunday a cold rain was still falling and temperatures were in the low to mid 30's. Statewide temperatures for the period averaged four degrees below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The maximum observed temperature was 63 at Beaufort on January 17. The minimum observed temperature was 15 degrees at Blackville on the morning of January 21. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 1.10" in Union ending at 7:00 a.m. on January 23. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.0".

                         Precipitation
                    Period   2000    Deviation*      Temperature
Location	    Total   Total    From Avg.	  Maximum    Minimum

Greer 		     1.32     3.0 	0.0 	   74 		NA
Charlotte, NC        1.49     1.5 	0.5B 	   NA 		NA
Columbia 	     2.14     5.3 	2.1A 	   56 		23 
Florence FAA 	     1.62     2.3 	0.4B 	   NA 		24 
Blackville 	     0.84     2.9 	0.2B 	   NA 		NA
Augusta, GA 	     NA       NA 	NA 	   NA 		NA
Beaufort 	     0.28     0.9 	1.8B 	   NA 		NA
Charleston 	     0.88     1.5 	1.1B 	   59 		NA
Myrtle Beach 	     0.92     3.1 	0.6A 	   NA 		NA 

*A=Above, B=Below 

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the prior 24-hrs ending 7 am Monday through ending 7 am Sunday

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperatures: Columbia 45 degrees.

Most South Carolina rivers are near normal and rising.

Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 49 degrees.