The weather pattern for the week started with the state stuck between a trough of low pressure over the Midwest and ridge of high pressure over the western Atlantic. This atmospheric set-up allowed deep transport moisture from the Gulf of Mexico into the state and produced cloud cover and precipitation.
During the morning hours of Monday, July 30, offshore thunderstorms produced gusty winds along portions of the coast. An automated weather station at Folly Beach Pier reported a wind gust of 42 mph at 4:34 a.m., and a wind gust of 39 mph at Fort Sumter at 4:41 a.m. The CoCoRaHS station Georgetown 6.0 S (SC-GT-4) reported a total of 5.53 inches of rainfall ending at 8:00 a.m. and mentioned that their 0.25-acre pond was full and standing water was seen in fields, driveways and along roadways. Later that day, lifeguards at an Isle of Palms county park observed a funnel cloud south of the island, but it dissipated before making contact with the water. More rain moved over the state on July 31, with thunderstorms developing shortly after sunrise along most of the South Carolina coast. Three CoCoRaHS stations in Horry County reported over 2.50 inches of rainfall Tuesday morning, and flooded streets occurred in some locations of Myrtle Beach and Surfside Beach.
The unsettled patterned persisted through the week, and on Wednesday, July 1, a severe thunderstorm late in the evening produced a tornado near Abbeville, SC. The National Weather Service (NWS) Office in Columbia confirmed that an EF0 tornado touched down northwest of Abbeville and caused numerous downed trees and damage to two sheds and in Due West, along its ¾ mile path. The same storm that spawned the tornado dumped 3.72 inches of rainfall in Calhoun Falls, which broke the record of 2.30 inches set back in 1932. Automated weather stations near Charleston, Folly Beach, and Rockville recorded wind gusts up to 46 mph around noon on Thursday, August 2. The thunderstorms that produced the strong winds were accompanied by heavy rains, which closed multiple roads in the towns of Knightsville and Summerville in Dorchester County. The South Carolina Highway Patrol reported a tree down on Interstate 26 near Little Mountain in Newberry County. The NWS station in Little Mountain reported a new record rainfall total of 2.82 inches, which broke the old record of 2.00 in 1918. Cloud cover in the Upstate kept high temperatures low, and four stations broke records for low maximum temperatures for the day. The NWS station in Spartanburg measured 81 degrees (the old record was 83 degrees in 2003), and the Anderson stations reached a high of 78 degrees (old record was 79 in 1985). Long Creek and Walhalla only reported a high temperature of 73 degrees, breaking both of their records of 75 that were set back in the 1970's.
An upper-level ridge moved in westward from the Atlantic and into the Midlands during Friday and into the weekend, with a return to seasonally warm temperatures and scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms through the weekend. On Friday, August 3, another round of morning thunderstorms caused heavy rains in Charleston, which closed many downtown streets and produced 53 mph wind gust along Folly Beach at 10:30 am. Rain continued to fall throughout the day, causing significant ponding on local roads and highways in Jasper, Colleton, and Dorchester counties. Around 6:30 p.m., lightning struck a tree in Hutchinson Park in Summerville, and the tree smoked for a short time after the strike. The NWS station at Caesars Head reported a maximum temperature of 66 degrees, which is 12 degrees below the normal temperature, and nearly tied the record low maximum temperatures of 65 degrees from 2014. On Saturday, August 4, part of Hampton Park flooded after an afternoon thunderstorm rolled through Charleston. CoCoRaHS station Charleston 2.8 NE (SC-CR-42) made a report of 1.49 inches over a 5-hour period but noted that the flooding they observed at their station was not due to the amount of rain but due to the ground being so saturated from the recent rains, that the water had no place to percolate. An emergency manager in Dorchester County reported flooding in the Ashborough neighborhood of Summerville on Sunday, August 5. Water was up to 8 inches deep in some places and rescues had been made to help motorists that had become stranded due to stalled cars and water surrounded some homes along the Ashley River. Over the entire 7-day period, the NWS station in Caesars Head reported 9.42 inches of rainfall.
(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 97 degrees at Sullivan's Island in Charleston County on July 30.
The lowest official temperature reported was 61 degrees at Caesars Head in Greenville County August 2.
The maximum 24-hour precipitation reported was 4.06 inches at the National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Station at the Bamberg ending at 9:30 a.m. on July 30. This total set a new rainfall record for the day at this station. The previous record was 1.98 inches in 2008.
The state average precipitation for the seven-day period was 2.40 inches.
| Weekly* | Since Jan 1 | Departure | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anderson Airport | 2.61 | 38.43 | 12.1 |
| Greer Airport | 1.95 | 34.38 | 5.6 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 2.91 | 27.75 | 2.6 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 1.84 | 21.78 | -5.8 |
| Orangeburg Airport | 1.30 | 27.85 | -1.1 |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 2.21 | 28.95 | 1.7 |
| Florence Airport | 0.69 | 29.83 | 3.7 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | 4.13 | 36.65 | 7.7 |
| Charleston Air Force Base | 3.76 | 36.31 | 6.7 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 2.18 | 24.74 | -4.2 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 80 degrees. Columbia: 81 degrees. Barnwell: 76 degrees. Mullins: 73 degrees.
Heavy rain over portions of the state and in the headwaters of North Carolina helped improve streamflow values over the course of the week. Area rivers in the northern Midlands and Pee Dee regions that had been reporting below average streamflow levels for July benefited from the rain. As of August 5, all of the major river systems across the state are running at normal to above normal streamflow levels.
Charleston Harbor (CHTS1): 84.4 degrees.
Capers Nearshore Buoy (Station 41029): 83.5 degrees.
Fripps Nearshore Buoy (Station 41033): 83.1 degrees.
Midlands: Columbia Metro Airport
Pee Dee: Florence Airport
Lowcountry: North Charleston Airport
Statewide
