Afternoon high temperatures in the middle 90's were observed on both Monday and Tuesday before a distinct cold front overspread the state Tuesday evening. On Wednesday morning, locations in central and western South Carolina cooled into the 50's. Afternoon maximum temperatures on Wednesday dropped by nearly ten degrees over the previous day. A pattern of daily thunderstorms began Thursday for central and eastern locations. Hail episodes seemed to accompany many of the events. Golf ball-sized hail fell on parts of Orangeburg County and small hail covered the ground in Lamar. The official start of summer 2008 began late Friday but not before scattered cloudbursts with intense lightning were reported across the Midlands. Blossoming thunderstorms on Saturday produced a short-path tornado in Berkeley County and reports of "baseball-sized hail" near the town of Cross. Mostly sunny, dry weather continued for much of the Upstate. The state average temperature for the period was near normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 102 degrees at Jamestown on June 17. The lowest official temperature reported was 50 degrees at Walhalla on the morning of June 18. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 4.04 inches at Pritchardville ending at 7:00 a.m. on June 16. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.7 inches.
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Greer 0.09 16.53 -8.4
Columbia 0.69 15.96 -6.8
Orangeburg 2.72 18.12 -4.6
Charlotte, NC 0.66 16.31 -4.7
Augusta, GA 0.60 17.65 -4.7
Florence 0.00 16.69 -3.6
N Myrtle Beach 2.75 18.31 -0.3
Charleston 0.87 15.98 -5.9
Savannah, GA 0.05 14.34 -7.0
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
4-inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 84 degrees.
South Carolina river stages were below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 83 degrees.
For additional information contact tylerw@dnr.sc.gov or by calling (803) 734-9100.
