WEATHER SUMMARY
Sunny, cool weather began the week with high temperatures slightly above normal. A cold front dropped south on Wednesday providing clouds and a chilling northeast wind. Early on Thursday morning, light showers developed across the midlands and the coastal plain. A cold front approached from the west overnight on Thursday and with its passage provided statewide coverage of moderate to heavy rains. West winds and sunny skies preceded the official start of Winter 2002 which arrived Saturday night at 8:14 p.m. EST. Sunday was slightly warmer as winds shifted southwest and high temperatures rose into the mid to upper 60's. The average statewide temperature for the period was four degrees above normal.
PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA
The highest temperature reported was 71 degrees at Allendale on December 19. The lowest temperature was 23 degrees at Lake Bowen and Salem on the morning of December 21. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.04" ending at 7:00 a.m. on December 20. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 0.5."
Precipitation
Period 2002 Deviation* Temperature
Location Total Total From Avg. Maximum Minimum
Greer 0.92 45.92 3.2B 65 34
Columbia 0.50 45.68 1.5B 67 32
Florence 0.39 35.86 7.8B 65 NA
Charleston 0.71 58.60 8.1A 68 NA
N Myrtle Beach 0.24 38.51 6.2B 65 NA
Augusta, Ga. 0.39 39.07 4.5B 68 29
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 50 degrees.
RIVERS AND SURF
South Carolina river stages range from below to near normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 51 degrees.
sco@water.dnr.state.sc.us http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sco/weekly/wk122202.html