The period began with the high pressure across the region ahead of an approaching cold front. Low temperatures on Monday, November 11, were observed in the upper 30s to low 40s, which was up to ten below normal, while the daytime high temperatures climbed to the upper 60s to low 70s under clear skies. A cold front entered the region on Tuesday morning and pushed offshore by the late evening hours. Ahead of the front, temperatures were slightly above normal, and the high temperature at the National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Charleston International Airport reached 76 degrees, while the station at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport reported a maximum temperature of 56 degrees. Most locations picked up between a quarter and half an inch, as the front pushed through the state, though some localized amounts of up to an inch were reported by CoCoRaHS observers in Chesterfield, Lancaster and York counties. The strong winds behind the front prompted lake wind advisories across the Midlands with observed gusts of 25 mph at airports Columbia, Florence, Orangeburg and York.
Behind the front, high pressure returned to the region and prevailed through Thursday. Lows on Wednesday morning were more than twenty degrees below normal for this time of year. Multiple record minimum temperatures were broken or tied as low temperatures dropped into the teens in the Upstate and upper 20s elsewhere across the state. Most of the reported minimum temperatures were below freezing, even locations along the coast. The NWS station in Caesars Head set a record low of 14 degrees, and the station located at the Charleston International Airport tied the record low of 29 degrees set in 1941. High temperatures did not reach the 50s, as many locations reported temperatures topping out in the upper 40s, including the stations in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville and Myrtle Beach. The high began to weaken by Thursday, and rain gradually moved back into the state as a coastal trough started to form along the Southeast coast. Maximum and minimum temperatures remained below normal, with low temperatures starting in the upper 30s and warmed slightly throughout the day. By mid-day, temperatures reached the upper 40s to low 50s, but were still up to twenty degrees below normal in some areas, such as the 43 degrees measured at the NWS station in Anderson. Rainfall fell in the Upstate less than half an inch, outside of the Upstate, over half an inch up to three inches in portions of the Lowcountry.
On Friday, November 15, the low pressure strengthened along the Southeast U.S. coast, producing rainy and breezy conditions across the Palmetto State. CoCoRaHS observers across the area reported rainfall totals up to five inches by the end of the weekend. Tide levels along the coast were higher than normal due to the strong winds associated with the low-pressure system. Coastal flood advisories were issued from Savannah to Wilmington through the weekend around the times of the regular high tide. Moderate flooding was reported along the low-lying portions of Charleston as the high tide values reached 7.40 ft mean lower low water (MLLW) on Friday, 7.82 ft MLLW on Saturday and 7.75 ft MLLW on Sunday.
The strong low-pressure system continued to keep unsettled weather across much of the state on Saturday and Sunday. Daytime temperatures on Saturday were warmer in the Upstate (in the lower 60s) than in parts of the Lowcountry, Midlands and Pee Dee where high temperatures only reached the low to mid 50s under mostly cloudy skies with rain showers. The storm system produced strong winds along the coast, with wind gusts up to 30 mph through Sunday morning in the Charleston area; gusts up to 45 mph occurred through Sunday afternoon near Myrtle Beach. By Sunday afternoon, the coastal low moved slowly away from the state, and drier and warmer conditions prevailed until a weak cold front moved into the region for the start of the new workweek.
(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 | 1.07 | 32.76 | -5.6 |
| Greer Airport | 0.67 | 42.43 | 1.1 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.81 | 46.62 | 9.6 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.51 | 32.22 | -7.9 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 1.37 | 24.00 | -18.1 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 1.99 | 42.47 | 3.6 |
| Florence Airport | 1.69 | 50.45 | -0.6 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 1.87 | 50.45 | 3.2 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 2.78 | 42.80 | -4.1 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 5.47 | 44.53 | 0.6 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 58 degrees. Columbia: 55 degrees. Barnwell: 47 degrees. Mullins: 45 degrees.
The wet pattern continued to provide beneficial rains across the state, which helped to ease the moderate to severe drought conditions that impacted the region during September and October. The rain fell across multiple days during the period, leading to less run off and allowing the ground to absorb the rain. Most of the National Weather Service stations and CoCoRaHS observers across the state reported at least a half an inch of rainfall, though many observers in the Lowcountry reported totals of up to five inches of rain. Year-to-date rainfall totals are roughly 75 to 90 percent of normal across much of the state, though some parts of the Midlands are lower, and areas in the mountainous Upstate are higher. The consistent rainfall over the last few weeks has brought increased streamflow values across the entire state. However, a few USGS river gauges continued to show below-normal flows on their 14-day flow product along parts of the Savannah (despite being regulated) and in portions of the Pee Dee Basin.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 67.5 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): Not Available.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): Not Available.
