The main weather stories for the period were the warm, dry, and quiet conditions that persisted for most of the workweek, along with a passing cold front over the weekend. On Monday, March 30, morning temperatures ranged from the upper 40s to mid-50s across the state. Lingering clouds cleared during the morning, giving way to mostly sunny skies by the afternoon, with temperatures climbing into the mid to upper 70s. With high pressure over the region, the weather remained relatively consistent each day through Thursday. Temperatures continued to rise, with overnight lows in the 60s and daytime highs in the mid-80s, while coastal areas experienced slightly cooler conditions, with highs in the upper 70s.
By Friday afternoon, scattered showers and thunderstorms developed across the Coastal Plain, and a few isolated locations received over half an inch of rain. Patchy fog was reported in portions of the southern Midlands and interior Pee Dee on Saturday morning. Temperatures remained above normal, with highs in the mid-80s. Isolated showers and storms developed again on Saturday, with a higher chance of rain in parts of the Upstate due to an approaching, strong cold front. Thunderstorms late Saturday brought heavy rain to the northern parts of Oconee and Pickens counties, and by Sunday morning, CoCoRaHS observers in those areas reported between two and three inches of rain. The increased chances of rain persisted on Sunday as the cold front moved through the region. Scattered showers and thunderstorms continued in the Upstate through Sunday morning. During the afternoon, the coverage of showers and thunderstorms increased across the Coastal Plain. A few storms were strong, and a trained storm spotter reported pea-sized hail near Pritchardville in Jasper County, and a thunderstorm also caused minor tree damage near Sellers in Marion County.
(Note: The highest and lowest official temperatures and highest precipitation totals provided below are based on observations from the National Weather Service (NWS) Cooperative Observer network and the National Weather Service's Forecast Offices.)| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 0.57 | 7.77 | -5.1 |
| Greer Airport | 1.98 | 9.84 | -3.3 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 0.55 | 5.89 | -5.3 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.22 | 6.03 | -4.9 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.09 | 8.51 | -3.8 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | Trace | 8.02 | -4.1 |
| Florence Airport | 0.60 | 6.31 | -3.5 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 0.18 | 4.79 | -5.5 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.01 | 5.32 | -5.0 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.06 | 3.31 | -6.6 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Columbia: 68 degrees. Barnwell: 61 degrees. Mullins: Not Available.
Most of the precipitation during the period fell because of the cold front that moved through the state on Saturday and Sunday. Rainfall totals ranged from less than a tenth of an inch in parts of the Midlands to over 2.50 inches of rain in the higher elevations of Oconee and Pickens counties in the Upstate. Isolated portions of Berkeley, Georgetown, and Horry counties recorded totals over an inch. With rain falling in the latter part of the period, the U.S Drought Monitor map released on Thursday, April 2, showed a slight expansion of extreme drought (D3) conditions in portions of the Upstate. The continued dry conditions and limited rain across the Midlands led to worsening conditions, and moderate drought (D1) was added to parts of Calhoun, Clarendon, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Richland, and Sumter counties. Elsewhere, there were no changes to the drought classifications from the previous week, as dry conditions persisted across the region.
Values for the 14-day average streamflow are no longer available because some USGS products have been decommissioned. Information on current streamflow is available at https://waterdata.usgs.gov/state/South%20Carolina/. River and coastal tidal heights remained below flood stage throughout the entire period.
