The period started with some fog on Halloween morning, mild and dry conditions, as low pressure tracked northeast of the Midlands, triggering some showers and isolated thunderstorms during the afternoon and evening. Temperatures climbed from lows in the upper 50s to highs in the upper 60s in the Upstate and lower 80s along the coast. The Charleston Harbor Tidal Gauge recorded a high astronomical tide of 7.24 feet MLLW starting on Monday afternoon, which caused shallow flooding in low-lying coastal areas.
Moderate, dense fog was reported on Tuesday morning, and visibilities dropped to less than a mile at the National Weather Service (NWS) station at the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport. Visibilities of less than a quarter of a mile were reported at the Charleston International Airport, Florence Regional Airport, and North Myrtle Beach Airport. Weak high pressure built into the region on Tuesday, producing mild temperatures and dry conditions, despite the cloudy skies. Temperatures, minimums and maximums, were between five and ten degrees above average for the rest of the work week.
Rain chances increased over the weekend ahead of a weakening cold front. The unsettled weather pattern produced scattered showers and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday, with some locations recording more during the period than from October 1 to October 30, including the NWS station at the Anderson FAA airport, which measured 0.78 inches versus 0.43 inches. With high pressure centered to the northeast of the region, warmer-than-normal temperatures prevailed, with temperatures climbing into the low to mid-80s by Sunday afternoon.
(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 | 0.78 | 27.93 | -11.0/td> |
| Greer Airport | 2.38 | 44.17 | 2.2 |
| Charlotte, NC Airport | 1.65 | 35.38 | -2.0 |
| Columbia Metro Airport | 0.42 | 34.84 | -4.5 |
| Orangeburg 2 (COOP) | 0.06 | 45.13s | 1.0s |
| Augusta, GA Airport | 0.61 | 41.76 | 3.7 |
| Florence Airport | 0.31 | 33.64 | -6.1 |
| North Myrtle Beach Airport | Trace | 41.77 | -1.0 | Charleston Air Force Base | 0.03 | 45.36 | -1.7 |
| Savannah, GA Airport | 0.25 | 33.45 | -9.5 |
| *Weekly precipitation totals ending midnight Sunday. M - denotes total with missing values. s - denotes total with suspect data. |
4-inch depth soil temperature: Clinton: 64 degrees. Columbia: 70 degrees. Barnwell: 65 degrees. Mullins: 68 degrees.
Much-needed rain fell in the Upstate during the period, with widespread totals of over half an inch measured north of the Interstate 20 corridor and west of the Interstate 77 corridor. Some CoCoRaHS observers in the Greenville-Spartanburg area reported between two and three inches of rain. The rain helped ease severe drought (D2) conditions in parts of Anderson, Greenville, and Laurens counties. However, the rest of the state remained dry, recording less than a quarter of an inch of precipitation. Areas of moderate drought (D1) conditions expanded into eastern portions of the Catawba-Wateree River basin, and abnormally dry (D0) was expanded eastward into the Pee Dee region on the latest United States Drought Monitor.
With the continued lack of statewide precipitation, the 14-day averages for stream flows at many gauges across the four major watersheds remained below normal. Those gauges that reported average streamflow values were on the lower side of normal conditions. With some rain falling in the Upstate, some flows slightly improved, but half a dozen gauges reported flows much below average. The river heights on all the state’s rivers were observed below the flood stage, although King Tide produced higher water levels on Monday at tidal locations.
