SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

September 23 - 29, 2002


WEATHER SUMMARY

Monday, the first day of Autumn 2002, dawned sunny for inland sites while coastal areas reported light showers. On both Tuesday and Wednesday a surface cool front provided northeast winds while cloudiness from Tropical Storm Isadore, located well south in the Gulf of Mexico, blanketed the state. After making landfall along the gulf shores, bands of rain began to fall over South Carolina's central and western counties. The heaviest rains were measured in the upstate as the remnants of Isadore tracked just west of the Appalachian mountains. Southerly winds followed into the weekend with rising temperatures and passing showers. For the period, the state average temperature was five degrees above normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 93 degrees at Orangeburg on September 23. The lowest temperature was 51 degrees at Caesars Head on the morning of September 26 and at Lake Bowen on the morning of September 28. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.89" at Walhalla ending at 7:00 a.m. on September 27. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.4."

                     Precipitation
               Period     2002     Deviation*           Temperature
Location        Total    Total      From Avg.       Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            0.89    32.30          6.3B          80         58                       	              	
Columbia         1.15    35.35          3.7B          87         67
Florence         0.60    28.35          7.3B          89         67	        
Charleston       2.91    41.77          0.6B          88         61
N Myrtle Beach   2.06    28.90          7.0B          86         68
Augusta, Ga.     0.41    29.54          5.9B          88         64 
A=Above, B=Below                                                                       
                                                          
                         

Note: Weekly rainfall amounts are for the 24-hour period ending midnight Sunday.

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 80 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages are below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 79 degrees.


sco@water.dnr.state.sc.us
http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sco/weekly/wk092202.html