Although the calendar highlighted the first day of spring, sunrise temperatures on Monday fell to 28 degrees in Whitmire, 30 degrees at Conway and Kingstree, 31 degrees at Greenwood and the freezing mark of 32 degrees for Cheraw, Barnwell and Holly Hill. Johnston's 33-degree minimum moved 42 degrees to an afternoon high of 75 degrees. A warming airmass displaced the cold on Tuesday just ahead of a storm front. At 3:09 p.m., the Charleston AP high temperature of 90 degrees tied the station's March record and was their warmest March day in 43 years. North, Barnwell, Hartsville, Cades and the Beaufort MCAS all reached 90 degrees. Tuesday was also the state's warmest day since October 19, 2016. At 5:23 p.m., storms underneath 55,000-foot cloud tops produced 1.75-inch hail that covered the ground in Travelers Rest. Hailstones of 2.5-inch diameter (tennis ball-sized) fell at Greer and dropped the temperature 24 degrees in less than two hours. At 7:15 p.m., 3.0-inch hail (tea cup-sized) was observed 3 miles south-southwest of Greer. Many car windows in Greenville and Spartanburg counties were shattered. Clusters of thunderstorms raced eastward. At 10:46 p.m., the McEntire JANG AP measured a wind gust of 58 mph. The Savannah River Site Area A Wind Tower in Aiken County recorded a gust of 81 mph. Half dollar-sized hail fell into Dorchester County before storms moved into the Charleston beaches and a wind gust of 59 mph at Folly Beach Pier. Taylors received one of the heaviest rainfalls from the event with 3.68 inches. On Wednesday, the Hartsville high temperature of 63 degrees was 21 degrees cooler than Tuesday's. Temperatures on Thursday morning cooled to 34 degrees at Florence. Onshore winds kept the afternoon temperature at the Georgetown AP, McClellanville and Hilton Head Island to just 59 degrees. Sunny, milder weather returned on Friday. Johnston warmed to 76 degrees. Similar weather on Saturday sent the afternoon temperatures to 75 degrees for Anderson and to 78 degrees at Bishopville. A few light rains moved over the Upstate leaving 0.37 inches at Sassafras Mountain and 0.28 inches for Table Rock State Park. Cloudy skies and northward-moving showers were observed on Sunday morning and were concentrated over the Piedmont and Foothills. Mostly sunny skies at Lake City warmed them to 82 degrees.
The highest official temperature reported was 92 degrees at Longtown on March 21. The lowest official temperature reported was 26 degrees at the SCDNR Walhalla State Fish Hatchery on March 20. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.90 inches at the Greenville-Spartanburg AP on March 21. The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 0.5 inches. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was four degrees above the long-term average.
| Weekly | Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson AP | 0.51 | 8.77 | -2.6 |
| Greer AP | 4.14 | 11.87 | 0.3 |
| Charlotte, NC AP | 0.33 | 9.08 | -1.0 |
| Columbia Metro AP | 0.51 | 10.48 | 0.1 |
| Orangeburg AP | 0.32 | 7.86 | -3.1 |
| Augusta, GA Bush AP | 0.48 | 13.72 | 2.3 |
| Florence AP | 0.29 | 6.10 | -2.9 |
| N Myrtle Beach AP | 0.09 | 5.22 | -5.2 |
| Charleston AP | 0.33 | 5.02 | -4.8 |
| Savannah, GA AP | 0.00 | 9.27 | -0.3 |
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton 58 degrees. Columbia 63 degrees. Barnwell 57 degrees. Mullins 68 degrees.
South Carolina river stages were below to much below normal. Charleston Harbor Custom House reported a water temperature of 62 degrees. The Fripp Nearshore Buoy Station 41033 reported a water temperature of 62 degrees.
