A cold front swept over the state on Monday, February 12 triggering pre-frontal morning rain. Rainfall amounts varied across the Upstate. The Anderson County Airport reported 0.09 inches of rainfall on February 12. The Jocassee COOP observer reported 2.70 inches of rainfall during a 24-hour period ending at 7 AM, February 13. Despite the rain, Florence had a high temperature of 76 degrees. After the frontal passage, a northeasterly flow brought cooler temperatures and persistent cloudiness on February 13. Caesars Head started the day with a morning low temperature of 32 degrees. Columbia, Orangeburg, and Charleston reached a high temperature of 57 degrees under sullen skies with patches of light drizzle. The USC Columbia COOP site reported 0.02 inches of light drizzle.
High pressure built in over the state on February 14. Morning overcast skies cleared across the state by mid-afternoon as southwest winds and sunshine nudged temperatures to the upper 60’s to low 70’s. Columbia Metro Airport had a Valentine's Day high temperature of 68 degrees. High pressure continued to strengthen mid-week increasing southwesterly flow over the state. On February 15, the Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station had a high temperature of 82 degrees as west-southwest winds gusted to 22 mph.
A weakening cold front passed over the state late on February 16. Despite partly cloudy skies, Beaufort, Columbia, Charleston and Florence reached an afternoon high temperature of 83 degrees. Numerous high temperature date records were broken:
| February 16, 2018 (deg. F.) | Previous Date Record / Year (deg. F.) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Columbia Owens Downtown Airport | 82 | 73 / 2001 |
| Santuck | 82 | 77 / 1976 |
| Orangeburg Municipal Airport | 82 | 77 / 2001 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg Airport | 81 | 75 / 1976 |
| North Myrtle Beach Grand Strand Airport | 81 | 69 / 2001 |
| Greenwood County Airport | 79 | 73 / 2001 |
| Anderson County Airport | 77 | 76 / 1976 |
| Clemson Oconee County Airport | 77 | 74 / 2001 |
| Cedar Creek | 75 | 71 / 1996 |
| Jocassee | 70 | 64 / 2005 |
The weak cold front stalled over the southern counties of the state on February 17 with low pressure centered over Georgia. Jocassee had a Saturday morning low temperature of 46 degrees. Persistent cloudy skies kept the temperature to just 72 degrees in Columbia and Orangeburg on February 17. Greenville had a high temperature of 57 degrees. Clemson reported periods of light rain, fog and a rainfall total of 0.10 inches. The frontal boundary remained stalled south of the state on Sunday, February 18. Sunday's high temperature in Columbia was 71 degrees. Light rain developed late Sunday over the Upstate. The Anderson County Airport reported receiving 0.11 inches of rain. The Anderson COOP observer reported a 24-hour rainfall amount of 0.84 inches falling during a period ending at 7 AM, February 19.
(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.)
The highest official temperature reported was 84 degrees at Barnwell on February 16.
The lowest official temperature reported was 31.6 degrees at on Sassafras Mountain February 13.
The heaviest official 24-hour precipitation reported was 2.85 inches at Caesar’s Head during the period ending on February 11.
The state average precipitation for the seven-day period was 1.0 inches.
| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 0.27 | 6.73 | 0.3 |
| Greer Airport | 0.28 | 7.77 | 1.3 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.19 | 5.26 | -0.3 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.00 | 3.66 | -2.3 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 0.03 | 2.72 | -3.5 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.03 | 3.54 | -3.0 |
| Florence Airport | 0.01 | 2.87 | -2.3 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.10 | 5.56 | -0.4 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 0.01 | 4.02 | -1.7 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.02 | 2.73 | -2.8 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 50 degrees. Columbia: 60 degrees. Barnwell: 55 degrees. Mullins: 52 degrees.
Upstate river stages were normal.
Midlands and Pee Dee river stages were below normal to normal.
Lowcountry river stages were normal.
Charleston Harbor water temperature: 59.0 degrees.
Fripp Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 57.9 degrees.
