SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

December 8 - 14, 2003


WEATHER SUMMARY

With still a week on the calendar before the official start of Winter, South Carolina continued to feel like January with temperatures well below normal. A clear Monday morning, under Canadian high pressure, produced minimum temperatures in the 20's. A quick change in wind direction late on Tuesday helped moderate the cold and 70 degree highs were observed by afternoon on Wednesday across coastal counties. Another cold front raced through overnight with scattered rains and snow flurries across the state's highest elevations. Strong northwesterly winds gusted to 43 mph in Orangeburg. More cold air followed on another boundary, producing cloudiness and conditions for wet and cold weather over the weekend. Showers spread into the state late Saturday and continued most of the day on Sunday. High temperatures on Sunday struggled to reach 40 degrees. Brief snowshowers were observed near the town of Westminster in Oconee County early Sunday morning. The statewide average temperature for the period was six degrees below normal.

The highest temperature reported was 71 degrees at Conway, Loris,and Charleston AP on December 10. The lowest temperature was 21 degrees at Chesterfield on the morning of December 8. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.28" at Jocassee Dam ending at 7:00 a.m. on December 11. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.8.”

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA


                             Precipitation                 
                       Weekly   Jan 1  Deviation     
                        Total   Total   From Avg
         Greer           2.02    62.9       14.8          
      Columbia           1.48    56.3       10.0
   Augusta, GA           1.18    52.5        9.8           
      Florence           0.54    40.5       -1.0  
  Myrtle Beach           2.08    55.4       11.5            
    Charleston           0.99    51.0        1.3  
             


             

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

SOIL

4 inch depth average soil temperature: Columbia 47 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages were near normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and
Savannah will average around 52 degrees.


sco@water.dnr.state.sc.us
http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sco/weekly/wk121403.html