Monday arrived with mild weather and no reports of freezing. The Georgetown AP and Hartsville AP both reported afternoon high temperatures of 73 degrees. An area of rain entered the far western corner of the state during the evening hours. At 7:00 p.m., Clemson reported heavy rain. On Tuesday morning, Jocassee Dam had received 1.62 inches of rain. Clarks Hill received 0.75 inches and Newberry measured 0.48 inches. Sunny skies replaced the passing rains and Shaw AFB in Sumter warmed up to 74 degrees. Strong west winds on Wednesday brought much colder air to South Carolina. Cedar Creek and Walhalla started the day at 29 degrees. At 11:51 a.m., the McEntire ANG AP near Eastover reported west winds gusting to 37 mph. The Charleston AP reported one of the warmer afternoon high temperatures at 68 degrees. Colder air to the north only allowed Sandy Springs and Rock Hill to reach 54 degrees. Freezing air settled into the state for Thursday morning. The temperature at Pelion fell 41 degrees overnight to a Thursday morning low of 27 degrees. North Myrtle Beach and the Charleston AP recorded 35 degrees. Most of the state's airports reported sunny skies from sunrise through the middle of the afternoon. Shaw AFB observed a relative humidity value of just 14 percent at 5:00 p.m. The highest temperature reported on Thursday belonged to Edisto Beach and Barnwell with 59 degrees. Some light frost was observed on Friday morning but a return to more seasonal weather came quickly to start the weekend. Clarks Hill reported 73 degrees on Friday afternoon. Strong west to southwesterly surface winds on Saturday delivered a round of 80-degree warmth from the Upstate to the coastal plain. Walhalla, Sandhill and Beaufort all shared an 80-degree, Saturday high temperature. Chesterfield's 82 degrees was that site's warmest day since October 26, 2012. A few high clouds on Sunday scaled back the warming a few degrees but Hartsville and Dillon still reached 82 degrees. The state average temperature for the period was four degrees above the long term average.
The highest official temperature reported was 83 degrees at Columbia Metro AP, Florence Regional AP and Jamestown on March 16. The lowest official temperature reported was 20 degrees at Caesars Head on March 14. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.41 inches at Caesars Head ending at 7:00 a.m. on March 12. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Anderson AP 0.80 10.21 0.1
Greer AP 0.73 10.42 0.1
Charlotte, NC AP 0.87 9.17 0.2
Columbia Metro AP 0.27 7.01 -2.3
Orangeburg AP 0.47 8.69 -1.1
Augusta, GA Bush AP 0.21 10.45 0.2
Florence AP 0.31 6.84 -1.2
N Myrtle Beach AP 0.41 5.56 -3.7
Charleston AP 0.07 10.89 2.2
Savannah, GA AP 0.10 10.44 1.9
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 59 degrees, Charleston 60 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 55 degrees.
