SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

April 15 - 21, 2002

WEATHER SUMMARY

The thermometer got a real test during the week as the mercury climbed to mid-summer levels of 90 plus degrees. On Saturday, Charleston AP set an all time April record high with 95 degrees. Florence and Myrtle Beach also set daily record high temperatures. Rainfall was at best very isolated with only a few sites reporting afternoon thundershowers. The week of hot and dry weather added to the woodlands wildfire threat. For the period, the state average temperature was thirteen degrees above normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature was 97 degrees at Orangeburg and at the University of South Carolina in Columbia on April 20. The lowest temperature was 49 degrees at Lake Bowen on the morning of April 16. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was 0.48" at Orangeburg ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 16. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.2".

                    Precipitation
               Period      2002     Deviation*        Temperature
Location        Total     Total     From Avg.      Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            0.00     11.88         4.6B          89         59                       	              	
Columbia         0.00      9.31         6.0B          92         63
Florence         0.00      8.23         4.9B          93         62	        
Charleston       0.00     10.32         2.8B          95         61
N Myrtle Beach   0.00      6.26         6.5B          92         58
Augusta, Ga.     0.00      9.97         5.4B          92         58
A=Above, B=Below                                                                       
          
 

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the 24-hour period ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 74 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 69 degrees.