The high pressure that had dominated the weather through the weekend shifted off the Eastern Seaboard on Monday, March 25, to start the work week. Low temperatures across the Palmetto State ranged from the upper 40’s to the low 50’s, though there were a few colder locations, such as the National Weather Service (NWS) station in Walhalla which recorded a minimum temperature of 34 degrees. The high temperatures were five to ten degrees above normal, with temperatures in the lower 70’s in the Upstate to nearly 80 degrees at the coast. Showers and thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front during the late evening on Monday, and the rain moved through the state overnight. The NWS and CoCoRaHS stations that reported rainfall totals the following morning showed the heaviest rainfall totals in portions of Aiken, Allendale and Barnwell counties, including over three-quarters of an inch that was reported near New Ellenton. Minimum temperatures on Tuesday, March 26, were in the upper 40’s to mid 50’s, and high temperatures only climbed to the upper 50’s and lower 60’s for the day. The NWS station at the Charleston International Airport went from a high of 80 degrees on Monday to a high of only 65 degrees on Tuesday.
After the front cleared the coast, wind gusts on the morning of Wednesday, March 27, reached 30 mph, prompting lake wind advisories to be issued in some areas of the state. High pressure moved back into the region and would control the weather pattern for the remainder of the work week. Low temperatures on Wednesday morning were below freezing at some of the higher elevation locations in the Upstate. Maximum temperatures were closer to ten degrees below normal, with highs in the low 60’s observed at the majority of the reporting stations. The drier weather pattern continued into Thursday, as the high-pressure ridge extended across the state. Late season frost and freeze advisories were issued for the Midlands for overnight Wednesday and into early Thursday morning. Minimum temperatures were below freezing for much the Midlands, Piedmont and Upstate, up to 15 degrees below normal. Despite the cold start to the day, high temperatures rebounded into the upper 60’s to mid-70s as the gradual warming trend continued through the rest of the work week. The NWS station at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport measured a diurnal temperature swing of 39 degrees, from a morning low of 31 degrees to a high of 70 degrees.
As the high pressure slowly shifted off the East Coast, southerly flow returned to the Palmetto State, bringing warmer temperatures and increasing moisture into the area for the weekend. While conditions were still dry on Friday, minimum temperatures dropped slightly below normal for this time of year, with lower to mid 40’s reported from many of the stations across the state. Under sunny skies, afternoon temperatures climbed into the mid-to-upper 70’s for highs. The warm-up continued through Saturday, as low temperatures were near normal, in the upper 40’s to low 50’s, and daytime temperatures reached 80 degrees at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, and 77 degrees at the stations in Anderson, Charleston, Greer and Florence.
Warm advection and moisture flux increase ahead of a cold front brought limited rain to the state on Saturday night and into Sunday, but another shot of cool air into the Southeast. The heaviest rainfall totals ending the morning of Sunday, March 31, were less than half an inch in the Upstate, with 0.45 inches measured at the NWS station in Jocassee, while most stations picked up less than a third of an inch. The morning low temperatures were in the mid 40’s in the Upstate to the upper 50’s near the coast, but the daytime temperatures ranged from 65 degrees at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport to 80 degrees at the Charleston International Airport. The frontal boundary stalled offshore late Sunday and would become part of an intense low-pressure system that would impact the Palmetto State during the following week.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 0.45 | 13.22 | 1.6 |
| Greer Airport | 0.30 | 15.12 | 2.8 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.43 | 13.67 | 2.9 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.14 | 6.50 | -4.4 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.35 | 6.24 | -5.3 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.61 | 7.77 | -4.2 |
| Florence Airport | 0.24 | 7.04 | -2.4 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.16 | 5.26 | -5.8 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.06 | 3.05 | -7.3 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.06 | 5.14 | -5.1/td> |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 53 degrees. Columbia: 60 degrees. Barnwell: 50 degrees. Mullins: 41 degrees.
The rainfall totals across the Palmetto State ranged from a tenth of an inch of rain across much of the coastal Lowcountry to up to an inch in portions of the Upstate and Central Savannah River Area (CSRA), especially in parts of Aiken County. With less than half an inch of rain measured across the state, reported streamflow values in the Upstate dropped back to within the normal range for this time of year. The year-to-date rainfall totals in the Upstate continued to be between four and eight inches above normal, though the areal extent of the above-normal rainfall shrank due to the drier conditions. Steamflow values remained near normal along many rivers and streams in the Midlands and interior portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee. The same area of the state has measured five to ten inches of rainfall so far in 2019. Areas south of the Interstate 95 corridor are running four to eight inches of rain below normal through the first three months of the year, having received less than five inches of rain since the beginning of the year, while rainfall in locations along the coast is close to a foot below normal. Streamflow levels in the Lowcountry are below normal, with some area rivers, such as the North Fork of the Edisto near Orangeburg, and rivers in the Pee Dee having dropped to below normal levels for the first time since September 2018.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 60.6 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 59.4 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 60.1 degrees.
