SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

March 29 - April 4, 2004

WEATHER SUMMARY

A cold front slowly crossed the state on Monday evening but not before afternoon temperatures climbed into the 70's. On Tuesday and into Wednesday, scattered rains fell from west to east with several upstate sites receiving over an inch of welcome rains. Pickens County reported 3/4 inch hail during an isolated thunderstorm Tuesday night. Lighter rain amounts were measured from the south midlands to the southern coast. Most reporting stations are at least a month or more behind in this new year's normal rainfall. Following the passing of the cold boundary, an upper low moved east across the Tennessee Valley, keeping clouds over South Carolina and rotating areas of light rain into Friday. Sunshine returned for the weekend with below normal temperatures and gusting winds. Early morning temperatures on Sunday fell to near or below freezing at the usual cold observation sites. The statewide average temperature for the period was five degrees below normal.

The highest temperature reported was 77 degrees at Conway on March 29. The lowest temperature was 31 degrees at Hunts Bridge on the morning of April 2 and at Salem on April 3. The heaviest 24 hour rainfall reported was 1.20" at Clinton ending at 7:00 a.m. on March 31. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.5.”

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

                              Precipitation               Temperature
                       Weekly   Jan 1  Deviation      Average  Average
                        Total   Total   From Avg      Maximum  Minimum  Average
         Greer           0.77     7.1       -7.4           61       41       52 
      Columbia           0.43     6.8       -6.8           65       45       55 
   Augusta, GA           0.62     9.0       -4.7           71       43       57 
        Cheraw           0.28     5.6       -6.9           67       40       54 
       Chester           1.37     7.5       -6.3           65       38       52 
      Johnston           0.65     5.0       -9.7           70       37       53 
        Sumter           0.28     6.9       -6.2           67       43       55       
       Clemson           0.69     6.2      -10.5           67       44       56
      Florence           0.22     5.0       -6.6           67       42       55 
  Myrtle Beach           0.39     8.6       -2.8           69       44       56 
     Allendale           0.14     9.2       -3.6           71       42       57 
    Charleston           0.13     6.3       -5.3           70       45       57 
      Beaufort           0.06     5.5       -5.8           72       49       60 

   

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 62 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were below normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average
around 57degrees.