WEATHER SUMMARY
The week began with sunny mild weather. On Tuesday, a sharp boundary passed west to east with thundershowers and damaging high winds. Florence measured a wind gust of 58 mph and the US Coast Guard Station in Charleston measured a gust of 56 mph. The mercury fell below freezing Wednesday as cool, dry high pressure settled over the state. Partly sunny skies and warming temperatures were observed into the weekend with a noticeable increase in surface winds. On both Saturday and Sunday, wind speeds bounced between 25 and 50 mph. Several wildfires were reported with structural losses. Before a few isolated thunderstorms began forming late Sunday, widespread 80 degree warmth made for the season's warmest day. For the period, the state average temperature was one degree below normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 85 degrees at Jamestown and Orangeburg on March 13. The lowest official temperature reported was 20 degrees at Caesars Head on the morning of March 9. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 0.72 inches at Clark Hill ending at 7:00 a.m. on March 9. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches.
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Deviation
Total Total From Avg
Greer 0.72 5.4 -5.6
Columbia 0.64 6.7 -3.8
Orangeburg 0.26 6.1 -4.0
Charlotte, NC 0.68 5.3 -4.2
Augusta, GA 0.58 8.3 -2.4
Florence 0.57 5.5 -3.3
Myrtle Beach 0.15 3.3 -5.6
Charleston 0.09 4.9 -4.0
Savannah, GA 0.33 3.7 -4.6
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL: 4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 58 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF: South Carolina river stages were near normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 56 degrees.
tylerw@dnr.sc.gov http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sco/weekly/wk031305.html