The week began cloudy and wet with 72-degree high temperatures reported at Orangeburg and Charleston City. More warming sunshine on Tuesday raised the temperature to 81 degrees at Clemson AP, Winnsboro, Calhoun Falls and Kingstree. Thunderstorms on Wednesday moved southeast over the Upstate with localized heavy rains before dissipating over the Piedmont. Some of the heavier totals included 1.98 inches at Long Creek, 1.93 inches at Table Rock, 1.90 inches at Travelers Rest and 1.63 inches at Hunts Bridge. Sandhill warmed to 87 degrees on Wednesday afternoon. Surface winds shifted on Thursday to the southeast. Pinopolis and Barnwell reached 84 degrees. The Friday sunrise temperature of 65 degrees at the Greenville-Spartanburg AP was the mildest morning temperature since September 18, 2012. The Charleston AP Friday morning temperature of 69 degrees was their mildest since October 4, 2012. An energetic cold front raced into the state on Friday afternoon. A line of violent thunderstorms produced a wind gust of 62 mph at the Lake Murray Dam at 3:40 p.m. and 82 mph at 5:17 p.m. over Shaw AFB in Sumter. At least twenty-two counties in South Carolina reported wind damage. Shaw AFB also received 1.84 inches of rain. Sullivan's Island measured a 24-hour rainfall total of 1.83 inches. On Saturday morning, the mercury sank to 35 degrees at Walhalla and 37 degrees at Pickens. Clarks Hill and Florence reported a Saturday afternoon high temperature of just 65 degrees. Colder temperatures left their mark Sunday morning with 35 degrees at Cedar Creek and 39 degrees at Hartsville. Strong winds affected the coast on Sunday. At 5:00 p.m., Hilton Head observed northeast winds of 20 mph gusting to 35 mph. A portion of the Wando Bridge at Interstate 526 was temporarily closed due to a wind related overturned tractor-trailer truck. At 7:00 p.m., instruments atop the Ravenel Bridge near Charleston measured a wind gust of 68 mph. Greenville and Murrells Inlet shared a Sunday high temperature of 66 degrees. The average temperature for the seven-day period was three degrees above the long term average.
The highest official temperature reported was 88 degrees at the Columbia Metro AP and Hartsville AP on April 19. The lowest official temperature reported was 34 degrees at Long Creek on April 20. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 3.07 inches at Walhalla ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 18. The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 0.9 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Anderson AP 0.80 14.93 0.7
Greer AP 0.79 15.28 0.6
Charlotte, NC AP 0.29 13.02 0.1
Columbia Metro AP 0.42 12.90 0.1
Orangeburg AP 0.95 13.40 -0.3
Augusta, GA Bush AP 0.41 14.74 0.6
Florence AP 1.09 11.58 0.3
N Myrtle Beach AP 1.36 12.45 0.7
Charleston AP 1.50 19.32 6.9
Savannah, GA AP 1.28 15.65 3.2
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 65 degrees, Charleston 66 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were near normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 62 degrees.
