SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

July 24-30, 2000

WEATHER SUMMARY

A surface flow, predominately from the Atlantic, helped moderate the heat and set the stage for scattered thundershowers through out the week. With clouds and northeast winds on Tuesday, high temperatures peaked in the 70's and were the coolest since late April. Coastal sites received heavy rains on both Monday and Tuesday. On Friday evening, the Greer National Weather Service reported 2.74 inches of rain in one and a half hours with golf ball sized hail nearby. Tropical weather ended the week with partly sunny days, high temperatures in the upper 80's and low 90's and slow moving afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Statewide temperatures for the period averaged four degrees below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The maximum observed temperature was 93 degrees at Orangeburg on July 27. The minimum observed temperature was 62 degrees observed at Hunts Bridge on July 25. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was reported at Greer with 2.96"on July 28. Statewide average rainfall for the period was 1.4".

                     Precipitation
                Period   2000    Deviation*                 Temperature
Location        Total    Total   From Avg.               Maximum    Minimum
Greer           4.53     23.3      8.2B                    NA          65
Columbia        0.56     21.5      8.9B                    91          67
Florence        1.97     21.1      5.9B                    NA          66
Charleston      3.03     27.2      3.6B                    NA          70
N Myrtle Beach  3.70     26.7      2.0B                    NA          70
Augusta, Ga.    0.01     19.3      9.0B                    93          68

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 85 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

Several eastern and near coastal river basins have responded to recent rains but remain below normal . Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 84 degrees.