SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

April 17-23, 2000

Late afternoon thunderstorms on Monday swept through central counties with rain, hail and high winds. Parts of Kershaw County reported golf ball-sized hailstones. Upstate sites as well as the south midlands and south coastal areas missed the rain. Mostly sunny and dry weather followed into Friday. A cold front raced through the state late in the day on Friday with strong winds and cooler temperatures but no wet weather was reported. Both Saturday and Sunday recorded high temperatures in the upper 60's and low 70's. Statewide temperatures for the period averaged one degree below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The maximum observed temperature was 87 degrees at Williams on April 17. The minimum observed temperature was 34 degrees at Cedar Creek on the morning of April 23. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 1.30" at Pee Dee ending at 7:00 a.m. on April 18. Statewide average rainfall for the period was 0.2".

                       Precipitation
                 Period  2000   Deviation*                 Temperature
Location         Total   Total  From Avg.               Maximum    Minimum
Greer            0.00    13.1     3.9B                    81         40
Columbia         0.32    15.3     0.9B                    84         41
Florence         0.84    10.3     2.7B                    83         41
Charleston       0.24    10.8     2.4B                    84         45
Myrtle Beach     0.42    10.1     3.1B                    74         47
Augusta, Ga.     0.00    11.1     4.6B                    85         38

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the prior 24-hrs ending 7 am Monday through ending 7 am Sunday

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 68 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

Most South Carolina rivers are near normal to below normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 65 degrees.