The main story for the week was Hurricane Dorian and its impacts on the Palmetto State. On September 1, Hurricane Dorian, with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, made landfall along the coast of Great Abaco Island. The hurricane proceeded to stall for nearly two days before making a turn toward the northwest, threatening much of the United States East Coast.
The high-pressure system over Georgia and the Carolinas on Monday, September 2, began to weaken by the middle of the week, ahead of Dorian's approach to the area. The morning temperatures started in the upper 60's to low 70's across much of the state, though locations in the Upstate, such as the National Weather Service (NWS) stations in mountainous portions of Oconee, Pickens and Spartanburg counties, reported lows in the lower 60's. While the overnight low temperatures were slightly above normal during the first part of the work week, the daytime high temperatures stayed near normal, with maximum temperatures in the upper 80's to low 90's. The Charleston Harbor tidal gauge observed an astronomical high tide value of 7.69 ft. mean lower low water (MLLW) on Monday evening, 7.35 ft. MLLW on Tuesday night and 7.38 ft. MLLW on Wednesday night.
On Thursday, September 5, Hurricane Dorian was located 50 miles to the east-southeast of Charleston and was moving parallel to the South Carolina coast. During the early morning hours, multiple record high minimum temperatures at NWS stations across the state in the Upstate and Midlands were broken, with low temperatures reported in the mid-70's, up to ten degrees above normal. In the Upstate, the NWS stations at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport and in Spartanburg set new daily maximum temperature records of 94 and 95 degrees, respectively, while areas under the rain bands from Dorian observed low maximum temperatures, including Andrews which reported 72 degrees, breaking the previous record of 76 in 1995. Dorian brought significant impacts to the coastal portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions through Friday. The 48-hour rainfall totals ranged from little to no rainfall in much of the Upstate and Midlands to over ten inches along the South Carolina coast, with localized areas receiving up to fifteen inches in Georgetown and Horry counties. The 24-hour rainfall total of 13.38 inches at the Georgetown County Airport on Thursday set a new daily rainfall record at the station. Strong thunderstorms embedded within Dorian's rain bands produced multiple tornadoes, including two EF0 tornadoes in North Myrtle Beach and Socastee. Wind gusts of up to 60 mph were recorded in the region surrounding Myrtle Beach, and wind gusts up to 80 mph were reported in the Charleston area. Three of the offshore buoys operated by the National Buoy Data Center measured a maximum wind gust over 90 mph as the center of Dorian tracked near or over the sensors.
An Open File report on Hurricane Dorian produced by the State Climatology Office will be linked to this report as soon as it is available.
After the passage of Hurricane Dorian, high pressure returned across the area, ushering in drier and warmer conditions in time for the weekend. High temperatures across the state were in the mid-to-upper 90's, nearly ten degrees above normal for this time of year, while low temperatures were near normal. The maximum temperature of 95 degrees on Saturday tied the daily high temperature record at the NWS station at the Charleston International Airport set back in 1941 and 1947. The upper level ridge held strong through Sunday, keeping conditions warm and dry as those impacted by Hurricane Dorian started the recovery process.
(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 | 0.00 | 26.48 | -4.1 |
| Greer Airport | 0.00 | 36.30 | 2.8 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.00 | 39.14 | 9.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.01 | 26.26 | -5.5 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.28 | 17.66 | -16.8 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.00 | 35.51 | 3.8 |
| Florence Airport | 2.76 | 32.05 | 0.5 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 10.8 | 42.47 | 5.1 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 5.67 | 35.90 | -1.6 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.71 | 30.51 | -5.3 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 79 degrees. Columbia: 82 degrees. Barnwell: 75 degrees. Mullins: 75 degrees.
Much of the rainfall over the seven-day period fell as a result of the passage of Hurricane Dorian on September 5 and 6. The hurricane produced heavy rainfall across the state, mainly between the Interstate 95 corridor and the coast. Up to fifteen inches fell in portions of Georgetown and Horry counties, and over ten inches fell across Charleston County. The excessive rainfall caused localized freshwater flooding and exacerbated saltwater flooding from the higher tides and surge associated with the storm. River levels in those areas that received heavy rain rose, including the Waccamaw River near Longs and Conway, 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. Despite the recent rainfall, portions of Allendale, Barnwell and Hampton counties in the Lowcountry continue to be the driest areas of the state, reporting less than twenty-five inches since the beginning of the year. Totals of over thirty inches were confined to the coastal portions of the coastal counties, while interior locations within the counties measured lower amounts. Even though 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, some parts of the area have received less than three inches in the last 30 days.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 83.8 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 81.5 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 81.7 degrees.
