The main weather story for the work week was the continued unstable atmospheric conditions, due to prevailing inland trough, which led to the development of strong to severe afternoon and evening thunderstorms. Under the influence of the Atlantic high pressure, temperatures through Friday were five to ten degrees above normal, with the majority of observed low temperatures in the low to mid-70's, and the daytime highs reaching the low to mid-90's.
On Monday, August 19, the week started under overcast conditions that eventually gave way to partly cloudy skies by mid-afternoon. As a shortwave approached the state from the west, the increased moisture helped trigger storms in portions of the Midlands during the late afternoon and early evening hours. Strong winds from localized thunderstorms caused tree damage in Fairfield County near Whitmire and in the city of McCormick. Storms also produced dime-sized hail in Greenwood County. The enhanced chance for heavy rain from isolated storms continued through the remainder of the work week. However, there was no significant widespread rainfall to help ease some of the drought conditions in parts of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions. Another round of scattered thunderstorms developed across much of the state on Tuesday and produced heavy rain in portions of McCormick and Saluda counties. CoCoRaHS observers in these counties reported between two and five inches of rainfall, with a maximum report of 5.15 inches from the station at McCormick 2.3 W. The low threat of severe weather and increased risk of heavy rainfall continued into Wednesday, and an observer in Walterboro reported 2.34 inches of rain.
By Thursday, August 22, the weak lee-side trough east of the mountains helped bring isolated showers and storms into parts of the Midlands. Heavy rain fell in Richland County, with reports of minor street flooding in Forest Acres and Columbia. The USGS stream gauge along Rocky Branch at Whaley and Main Streets in downtown Columbia crested at 7.22 feet, slightly above flood stage of 7.2 feet. The National Hurricane Center started watching an area of low pressure over the central Bahamas as it began to track northward along the East Coast through the weekend. A cold front started to slowly cross the state on Friday, providing an increased chance for heavy rain and potential flash flooding as storms formed and trained along the front. Strong to severe thunderstorms caused wind damage in Sumter County near Oakland, where there was a measured wind gust of 51 mph at Shaw Air Force Base. A trained spotter estimated wind gusts of 65 mph with dime-sized hail near Bowman in Orangeburg County. The S. C. Department of Transportation reported trees down near Mayesville. The National Weather Service (NWS) received additional reports of thunderstorm wind damage from portions of Cherokee, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Newberry, Williamsburg and York counties.
As the cold front continued to push through the Midlands and toward the coast, a cold wedge of high pressure ushered a preview of fall-like weather for much of the state through the remainder of the weekend. Minimum temperatures across the state dropped into the low to mid-60's, and many NWS stations across the Upstate reported high temperatures up to fifteen degrees below normal for the end of August. The NWS station at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport reported a high of 74 degrees on Saturday, though the station at the Charleston International Airport measured a high of 89 degrees. On Sunday, NWS stations observed one of the top five coolest days on record. High temperatures ranged from the low 70's to the low 80's, and a few tied or broke their daily low maximum temperature record including Chesnee (74 degrees), Florence (75 degrees), and Greenville-Spartanburg (76 degrees). The cooler and drier conditions prevailed through Monday before the next system, while a front lingered along the coast.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 0.10 | 25.13 | -3.7 |
| Greer Airport | 0.25 | 34.85 | 3.1 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 4.32 | 39.11 | 11.3 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.22 | 25.60 | -5.5 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.18 | 17.27 | -15.1 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 6.41 | 35.07 | 4.9 |
| Florence Airport | 0.28 | 29.20 | -0.3 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.56 | 31.56 | -2.3 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | Trace | 29.90 | -4.3 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.32 | 28.09 | -5.1 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 72 degrees. Columbia: 82 degrees. Barnwell: 73 degrees. Mullins: 68 degrees.
The majority of the rainfall over the seven-day period fell in portions of the northern Midlands, Piedmont and Upstate regions. Locations in Greenwood, McCormick, Newberry and Saluda counties reported up to five inches of rain, and observers reported most of those totals coming from one event. Due to the localized nature of the thunderstorms, isolated amounts of two to three inches fell in Georgetown and Williamsburg counties, with less than an inch recorded across the remainder of the state. River levels in those areas that received heavy rain on Sunday afternoon in the Upper Savannah and Santee River Basins rose slightly, while those parts of the state that received sparse rainfall observed low river levels. Streamflow values continued to drop in many of the state's streams and rivers, with reported flows below normal for this time of year. Portions of Allendale, Barnwell and Hampton counties in the Lowcountry and Dillon, Florence, Horry and Marion counties in the Pee Dee continue to be the driest areas of the state, reporting less than twenty inches since the beginning of the year. Totals of over thirty inches in portions of Beaufort, Charleston and Colleton counties were confined to the coast, while interior locations within the counties measured lower amounts. Although rainfall totals in the Upstate over the last 30 days are below normal, the year-to-date rainfall totals in the Upstate remained near to above normal for this time of year, with more than thirty inches reported at many locations and over fifty inches in some of the more mountainous areas.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 83.8 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 83.1 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 84.4 degrees.
