Kings Mountain National Military Park near Blacksburg, reported 95 degrees on Monday. Only a handful of cooling afternoon thundershowers offset the all-day heat. On Tuesday, the mercury climbed to 96 degrees at Springmaid Pier, making it their hottest day of the season. Late evening thunderstorms on Folly Island caused winds to gust at 45 mph. Walterboro reported a 24-hour rainfall of 1.40 inches. Sunny, calm conditions sent the temperature on Wednesday to 101 degrees at Hardeeville. More triple-digit heat was observed on Thursday. Aiken and Florence noted afternoon high temperatures of 101 degrees. At 8:00 p.m., the Columbia Metro AP was still sweltering at a humid 96 degrees. The overnight hours only brought temporary relief from the heat. Both the Florence Regional AP and N Myrtle Beach AP never cooled below 80 degrees before sunrise on Friday. At 9:00 a.m., the Springmaid surf water temperature matched their air temperature at 84.4 degrees. The Sandhill Experiment Station measured a 24-hour open pan water loss of 0.48 inches. The Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station reached 100 degrees for the first time this year. Instruments atop the Lake Wateree Dam measured a wind gust of 49 mph at 5:10 p.m., and the Charleston AP recorded thunderstorm winds gusting to 50 mph at 7:32 p.m. Afternoon thunderstorms developed through the weekend but with little steering, limited the coverage to widely scattered rains. Lugoff measured an even one-inch of rain on Friday and 1.75 inches on Saturday. Dillon reached 101 degrees on Saturday afternoon. Sunday's storms got an early start along the coastal counties before forming inland and over the Midlands. Cades measured a rainfall total of 2.51 inches. Orangeburg's Sunday high temperature of 93 degrees occurred just before heavy rains of 1.84 inches fell. Two persons, one in Myrtle Beach and one in Mt. Pleasant, were struck by lightning over the weekend and sent to local hospitals. The state average temperature for the seven-day period was five degrees above normal.
The highest official temperature reported was 103 degrees at Barnwell on July 26. The lowest official temperature reported was 64 degrees at Caesars Head on July 28 and at Long Creek on July 29. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.50 inches at Conway ending at 7:00 a.m. on July 29. The state average rainfall for the period was 0.8 inches.
PRECIPITATION:
Precipitation
Weekly Jan 1 Departure
Total Total from Avg
Greer AP 0.00 19.45 -8.2
Anderson AP 0.26 21.32 -4.2
Columbia Metro AP 0.24 24.29 -2.0
Orangeburg AP 2.45 27.04 -0.7
Charlotte, NC AP 0.08 20.04 -4.1
Augusta, GA Bush AP 0.03 14.52 -11.7
Florence AP 0.36 25.72 0.9
N Myrtle Beach AP 2.95 19.76 -7.8
Charleston AP 2.48 25.82 -2.3
Savannah, GA AP 1.00 24.39 -3.0
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
SOIL:
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia 83 degrees, Charleston 86 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF:
South Carolina river stages were near to below normal. Ocean water temperatures at Springmaid Pier Myrtle Beach were reported at 83 degrees.
