At the beginning of the work week, an approaching cold front brought some rain and colder temperatures to the state. Many of the CoCoRaHS stations in Charleston County reported up to 0.33 inches of rainfall on Monday, November 26, and there was a report of pea-sized hail on Johns Island during one of the morning thunderstorms. High temperatures, in the 70s, were near normal for portions of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee regions, while some stations in the Upstate reported maximum temperatures below normal, only reaching the lower 50's. On the last day of the second round of King Tides for November, the Charleston Harbor tidal gauge reported a morning high tide of 7.58 ft. mean lower low water (MLLW) and moderate flooding of the coastal area typically occurs when the gauge reaches 7.5ft. Flooding due to saltwater occurred in low-lying roads and yards around the Charleston and Folly Beach areas.
Behind the front, a Canadian air mass, with cold, dry air, settled across the Deep South on Tuesday and would dominate the weather pattern through most of the week. Many National Weather Service (NWS) stations in Greenville, Oconee, Cherokee, Pickens, Anderson, and Spartanburg counties reported morning lows in the mid-20's. High temperatures across the state ranged from the upper 40's to low 50's, about 15 degrees or more below normal. The National Weather Service Station at the Charleston International Airport reported a high temperature of 50 degrees on Tuesday; which was a 24-degree difference from the previous day. The high temperature at the NC EcoNet station on Sassafras Mountain recorded a high of only 38°F and a maximum wind gust of 35 mph. With breezy conditions, some wind gusts more than 30 mph were reported from the Anderson, Clemons, and Columbia airports; which prompted the NWS to issue a lake wind advisory for the Midlands. A widespread freeze was forecasted for much of the Lowcountry and Pee Dee on the morning of Wednesday, November 28, and a Freeze Warning issued for areas inland of coastal highway US 17. Low temperatures reached 30 degrees at both the Charleston International Airport and Myrtle Beach Grand Strand Airport. With minimum temperatures below freezing across much of the region, the growing season came to an end. Minimum temperatures in the teens were reported at the NWS stations in Caesars Head (16°F), Jocassee (19°F), and Fountain Inn (19°F), and the wind chill advisories were issued for portions of the Upstate. High temperatures on Wednesday were colder than Tuesday, with locations struggling to reach the mid to upper 40's, and even low 50's along the coast, despite the sunny skies.
Another round of cold overnight temperatures and quiet weather started Thursday morning, as the high pressure moved off the Southeast Coast. Minimum temperatures dropped into the 20's at many locations, including 25 degrees in Barnwell, Darlington, Laurens, and Winnsboro. The return to southerly flow around the back of the high pressure and an approaching weak cold front, helped to bring moisture back into the state and high temperatures rebounded back into the upper 50's and low 60's, warmer than the previous two days, but still below normal. The rainfall measured over many areas of the Central Savannah River Area and Lowcountry during the previous seven days were fairly minimal. Because of the lack of rainfall, the Thursday, November 29 release of the National Drought Monitor continued to hold the dry (D0) to moderate (D1) drought conditions along the coast of Beaufort, Charleston, and Jasper counties and inland to include Allendale, Berkley, Colleton, Dorchester and Hampton counties.
Friday, November 30 was the last quiet day before a significant low-pressure system developing in the Plains would bring widespread precipitation to the state. Some CoCoRaHS and NWS stations in the Upstate picked up a quarter of an inch of rainfall from some light overnight shower activity. The milder temperatures, lows in the 40's with highs in the 50's and 60's, closer to normal for this time of year. The storm in the Plains and its associated cold front began to lift to the northwest on Saturday, bringing a plume of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico across the state. The main area of precipitation move into the region during the late morning and early afternoon as the warm front lifted over the area. The rainfall intensity started lightly and then transitioned to moderate rainfall as the cold front started to shift closer to the region slowly. An employee at the NWS Office in Greer reported pea-sized hail associated with the scattered thunderstorms in portions of the Upstate. The unsettled weather continued overnight and into Sunday, December 2. Two 24-hour rainfall totals over 2.5 inches were submitted from the CoCoRaHS observers in Greenwood County (Bradley and Greenwood areas). Closer to the coast, heavy rains caused freshwater flooding in downtown Charleston, including Line and President Streets and thunderstorms produced some gusty winds, with a 39 mph gust reported from the WeatherFlow station at Folly Beach during Sunday evening. The Storm Prediction Center had issued a slight risk of severe weather for portions of the state east of the Interstate 20 corridor, but no significant storm damage was reported.
The cold front continued to push through the state late Sunday slowly and would usher in another round of cool and dry weather ahead of a potential storm that would impact the Palmetto state later the following week.
(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.)| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 2.50 | 54.49 | 14.1 |
| Greer Airport | 2.20 | 58.53 | 15.2 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.88 | 52.19 | 14.3 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.11 | 43.37 | 1.8 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 1.20 | 40.94 | -2.7 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.89 | 49.78 | 9.4 |
| Florence Airport | 0.63 | 52.10 | 12.0 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.88 | 61.94 | 13.2 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 2.37 | 50.31 | 2.2 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 3.53 | 38.36 | -6.8 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 54 degrees. Columbia: 57 degrees. Barnwell: 56 degrees. Mullins: 62 degrees.
Rainfall totals over the past seven days were normal to slightly below normal across the state, with portions of the Upstate and Lowcountry receiving up to three inches of rain. The Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) received less than an inch of rain and continued to be one of the drier parts of the state, with the annual rainfall total in this area measuring close to eight inches below normal. The around of moderate rainfall over the weekend caused some flooding issues, especially in portions of the Lowcountry, as the rainfall trained over the area. Portions of some rivers that had dropped below action stage, including the Savannah, Congaree, Little Pee Dee, Pee Dee, and Wateree rose to either action or minor flooding stage heights in response to the recent rainfall. Rivers and across most of the Palmetto state continued to report streamflow values that were much above normal for this time of year, with about half a dozen gauges reporting normal streamflow, especially around the CSRA.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 58.5 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 61.2 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 58.8 degrees.
