Clouds and chilling northeast winds prevented any warming on Monday. Florence and Sandhill reported a high temperature of just 45 degrees. Rains moved into the state during the evening hours. At 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the Greenville-Spartanburg AP, Columbia Metro AP, Orangeburg AP and the Charleston AP all observed "heavy rain." At the noon hour, Clemson noted a cold 40 degrees while along the southern coast; gusting south winds had pushed the temperature to 70 degrees at Beaufort. The low pressure feature responsible for the soaking rains and high winds produced a minimum barometric pressure value of 29.54 inches of mercury at Sumter and Florence. South winds reached 49 mph at the Charleston AP. The Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station measured an "event total" rainfall of 3.52 inches. Walterboro received 2.58 inches and Laurens received 1.67 inches. Nearing the time of sunset on Tuesday, an isolated se"ere thunderstorm formed on the west side of Florence near the Ebenezer Community. This storm cell produced "straight line" wind damage that resulted in several hours of power loss to an estimated 14,000 users. Stable weather returned on Wednesday with fast drying on brisk, southwesterly surface winds. Hartsville recorded a mild high temperature of 63 degrees. Thursday began with freezing temperatures for the high elevation counties and strong west winds. At 10:00 a.m., the Columbia Metro AP recorded west winds of 28 mph, gusting to 38 mph. February's 2013 rainfall range for the state included 12.13 inches at the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station to just 3.20 inches at York. The Charleston airport's February 2013 rainfall of 10.47 inches set a new February record for that location. More cold moved into the state on Friday, March 1. Cedar Creek's sunrise temperature fell to 25 degrees. During the morning hours of Saturday, winter weather moved southeast from the North Carolina Mountains bringing snow showers in its wake. Only a novelty by the measurements, the public reported nearly two inches around the Rock Hill area and one inch over parts of Spartanburg County. The Town of Lancaster observed a "dusting." It was just a cold rain elsewhere with Clinton measuring one of the heavier totals with 0.28 inches of rain. Shaw AFB in Sumter reported a Saturday high temperature of 45 degrees which was nearly twenty degrees below the long term average high for the date. Although the "climatological spring" was into its third day, Sunday was as cold as a mid-winter day. Overcast skies and northwest winds held the Sunday high temperature at Beaufort to just 45 degrees. The state average temperature for the period was five degrees below the long term average.
The highest official temperature reported was 75 degrees at Barnwell and Jamestown on February 26. The lowest official temperature reported was 20 degrees at Chesnee on March 3. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.25 inches at Jocassee ending at 7:00 a.m. on February 26. The state average rainfall for the period was 1.4 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Anderson AP 1.17 8.97 0.8
Greer AP 1.53 9.22 1.0
Charlotte, NC AP 1.34 7.93 0.8
Columbia Metro AP 1.21 6.72 -0.9
Orangeburg AP 0.94 8.16 0.2
Augusta, GA Bush AP 1.10 10.00 1.7
Florence AP 0.97 6.52 0.0
N Myrtle Beach AP 1.22 5.06 -2.4
Charleston AP 2.02 10.82 3.8
Savannah, GA AP 2.60 10.30 3.5
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 50 degrees, Charleston 51 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were near normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 50 degrees.
