SOUTH CAROLINA WEATHER AND CLIMATE

December 23 - 29, 2002


WEATHER SUMMARY

After a mild start on Monday with afternoon temperatures around 60 degrees, low pressure developed over the Gulf coast states and began to influence the states weather for Tuesday. A large area of rain and occasional thunder worked its way from southwest to northeast during most of the day and into the night. Heavy rains upstate sent several rivers to near or above flood stage. Christmas day Wednesday saw gradual clearing with northwest winds gusting to over thirty miles per hour. Much colder air followed the holiday with below normal temps into the weekend. Light, southeasterly winds on Sunday helped warm temperatures to near 70 degrees. The average statewide temperature for the period was two degrees below normal.

PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURE DATA

The highest temperature reported was 74 degrees at Orangeburg on December 29. The lowest temperature was 16 degrees at Walhalla on the morning of December 27. The heaviest official 24-hour rainfall reported was 2.07" at Jocassee Dam ending at 7:00 a.m. on December 25. The average statewide rainfall for the period was 1.2."


                      Precipitation
               Period    2002    Deviation*         Temperature
Location	Total	Total     From Avg.      Maximum    Minimum	
Greer            1.65   47.57         2.4B          67         27                      	              	
Columbia         1.56   47.24         0.8B          69         23
Florence         0.62   36.48         8.0B          65         24	        
Charleston       1.48   60.08         8.8A          68         28
N Myrtle Beach   0.78   39.29         6.2B          62         26
Augusta, Ga.     1.39   40.46         3.9B          69         22 
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 49 degrees.

RIVERS AND SURF

South Carolina river stages range from near to above normal. Surf temperatures at Myrtle Beach and Savannah will average around 50 degrees.


sco@water.dnr.state.sc.us
http://water.dnr.state.sc.us/climate/sco/weekly/wk122902.html