SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

October 7 - 13, 2002

WEATHER SUMMARY

On Monday, afternoon temperatures rose into the upper 80's and lower 90's. A cool front eased into the state on Tuesday and provided the eastern half of the state with welcomed rains. Cool northeast winds helped lower temperatures by ten to fifteen degrees. With the boundary stalled just south of the state, daily showers were reported under cloudy skies. On Thursday, Tropical Storm Kyle, which had meandered over the west central Atlantic for weeks, drifted west towards Florida then up the coast to near Charleston by Friday morning. Although weak in intensity, flooding rains between six and ten inches were reported. A tornado was reported in Georgetown causing moderate damage. Moist air remained into midday Sunday with scattered showers before another Autumn front approached and helped provide afternoon clearing. 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 October 7. The lowest temperature was 48 degrees at Caesars Head on the morning of October 9. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 6.35" at Edisto Beach ending at 7:00 a.m. on October 11. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.8."

                     Precipitation
               Period    2002    Deviation*            Temperature
Location        Total   Total     From Avg.        Maximum     Minimum	
Greer            0.55   32.85         7.6B            82          54                       	              	
Columbia         2.17   37.55         2.9B            88          57
Florence         2.55   30.99         6.2B            86          61	        
Charleston       7.22   48.99         4.9A            90          63
N Myrtle Beach   1.64   30.54         7.1B            86          62
Augusta, Ga.     1.11   30.65         6.3B            87          58 
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 near to below normal.
Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 79 degrees.