WEEKLY SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER 2012

March 26 - April 1, 2012

WEATHER SUMMARY:

A sunny Monday afternoon highlighted the full blooms and color of azalea, flowering dogwood and cherry on the SC State House grounds. Givhans warmed to 86 degrees on Monday afternoon. A boundary of cooler air entered the state on Tuesday morning. Mullins and Fort Johnson reported high temperatures of just 63 degrees. There was a chill in the air on Wednesday morning for Chesnee and Ninety Nine Islands as the mercury fell to 42 degrees. More unseasonable warmth returned Wednesday afternoon with Summerville and Bamberg recording 83 degrees. On Thursday, Columbia, Orangeburg and Chesterfield reached 87 degrees. It was more of the same on Friday with Hartsville, Kingstree and Andrews reporting 88 degrees. Scattered thunderstorms formed on Friday for parts of the Upstate and moved southeast. Lugoff measured one of the heavier amounts with 1.00 inches. Anderson measured 0.53 inches and Manning received 0.76 inches. Warm surface heating interacted with cold air aloft to cause additional, yet isolated, storms on Saturday. The Greenville Downtown AP measured 0.74 inches and Greenwood measured 0.70 inches. The March 2012 rainfall range showed that 7.47 inches fell at Barnwell and only 1.48 inches at Cedar Creek. Preliminary reports indicated that the March 2012 average temperature at the Greenville-Spartanburg AP, the Columbia Metro AP and Florence AP were the warmest of record. The Table Rock State Park, usually one of the state's cooler locations at an elevation of 1020 feet, warmed to 85 degrees on Sunday afternoon. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was ten degrees above normal.

The highest official temperature reported was 89 degrees at Conway on March 29 and at Witherbee on March 30. The lowest official temperature reported was 40 degrees at Caesars Head on March 27 and at Dillon on March 28. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.16 inches at Hunts Bridge ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 1. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.4 inches.

PRECIPITATION:

                                 Precipitation                                                    
                            Weekly   Jan 1   Departure     
                            Total    Total    from Avg
         Greer AP            0.95     8.78     -3.7
      Anderson AP            0.54     8.23     -4.0
      Columbia Metro AP      0.12     6.45     -4.6
    Orangeburg AP            0.35     6.65     -5.0
 Charlotte, NC AP            0.48     7.49     -3.4
   Augusta, GA Bush AP       0.26     4.80     -7.3
      Florence AP            0.41     8.75     -0.8
N Myrtle Beach AP            0.21     6.59     -4.6
    Charleston AP            0.03     8.45     -2.0
  Savannah, GA AP            0.52     8.65     -1.7

Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.  

SOIL:

4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 71 degrees, Charleston 72 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF:

South Carolina river stages were below normal. Ocean water temperatures at nearby Johnny Mercer Pier in Wrightsville Beach, NC were reported at 66 degrees.