High pressure, above normal temperatures and very dry conditions dominated the week's weather through Thursday. A lone rain shower dumped 0.17 inches of rain at Shaw Air Force Base on Tuesday. 99 degrees was the high temperature in Orangeburg on Thursday.
A cold front passed over the state on Thursday, then stalled over the coast on Friday triggering coastal rain showers. The Charleston Air Force Base reported only 0.09 inches of rain on Friday. A CoCoRaHS observer in Hanahan reported 1.78 inches of rainfall during a 24-hour period ending on Saturday morning.
A secondary cold front on Saturday ushered in a cool, dry Canadian air mass. A narrow pre-frontal trough ahead of the Canadian air did trigger a rain shower at the Newberry County Airport that put down 0.79 inches of rain in 80 minutes before dawn on Saturday morning. The state's high temperature on Saturday was 85 degrees in Columbia.
With the Canadian air mass firmly in place over the state, Sunday's morning low temperature was 42.6 degrees on Sassafras Mountain. Reports of morning low temperatures in the low to mid-50's were common across the Midlands and Pee Dee. The Columbia Metro Airport was an exception with a morning low temperature of 59 degrees. Gusty northeast winds persisted during the day on Sunday. Sunday's high temperature of 77 degrees was shared by the Columbia Metro and Columbia Hamilton-Owens Downtown airports as well as the Charleston Air Force Base.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)
The highest official temperature reported was 99 degrees at Orangeburg 2 on September 28.
The lowest official temperature reported was 42.6 degrees on Sassafras Mountain on October 1.
The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 1.25 inches at the USGS site at Turkey Creek above Huger on September 29.
The state average rainfall for the seven-day period was 0.1 inches.
| Weekly | Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 0.00 | 42.16 | 8.7 |
| Greer Airport | 0.08 | 42.19 | 6.1 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.00 | 37.68 | 5.7 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.00 | 41.30 | 5.7 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.00 | 32.32 | -4.9 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.00 | 38.66 | 4.4 |
| Florence Airport | 0.00 | 35.70 | 1.4 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.00 | 39.89 | -1.9 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.09 | 45.19 | 3.3 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.46 | 47.95 | 8.8 |
Weekly rainfall totals ending midnight Sunday.
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton 69 degrees. Columbia 76 degrees. Barnwell 69 degrees. Mullins 59 degrees
Most South Carolina river stages were normal to much below.
Charleston Harbor water temperature: 78 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 77 degrees.
