DRY MONTH ACROSS THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA.
14TH DRIEST MAY ON RECORD AT AUGUSTA.
FIRST TROPICAL STORM OF THE DEVELOPS AND MAKES LANDFALL IN SC.
ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR THE MONTH.
THE THEME FOR THE MONTH OF MAY WAS ONE WORD...DRY. IT WAS THE 14TH
DRIEST MAY ON RECORD AT AUGUSTA. THE FIRST TROPICAL SYSTEM OF THE
NEW YEAR ARRIVED JUST AHEAD OF HURRICANE SEASON WHEN SUB TROPICAL
STORM ANA FORMED OFF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST. ANA WAS NAMED DURING
THE LATE EVENING HOURS ON THE 7TH WHILE APPROXIMATELY 170 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF MYRTLE BEACH. OTHERWISE...THE MONTH WAS RATHER QUIET
AS THERE WAS VERY LITTLE SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE MONTH AND
TEMPERATURES WERE A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL.
PRECIPITATION WAS WELL BELOW NORMAL FOR MANY LOCATIONS DURING MAY.
AMOUNTS RANGED FROM JUST ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH UP TO 4 INCHES FOR
THE MONTH. MANY AREAS ONLY RECEIVED BETWEEN 25 TO 50 PERCENT OF
NORMAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT AUGUSTA REGIONAL BUSH FIELD WAS 72.4
DEGREES OR 1.3 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 71.1 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE AT COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT WAS 73.5 DEGREES OR 1.8
DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 71.7 DEGREES. AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD ONLY
RECEIVED 0.93 INCHES OF RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS THE 14TH
DRIEST MAY ON RECORD AT AUGUSTA. HERE ARE THE TOP 15 DRIEST MAY
YEARS ON RECORD:
1. 0.06 INCHES 1914
2. 0.20 INCHES 1941
3. 0.36 INCHES 2000
4. 0.37 INCHES 1926
5. 0.48 INCHES 1951
6. 0.52 INCHES 1898
7. 0.74 INCHES 1913
8. 0.76 INCHES 1956
9. 0.79 INCHES 1911
10. 0.82 INCHES 2007
11. 0.84 INCHES 1879
12. 0.91 INCHES 1908
13. 0.92 INCHES 1936
14. 0.93 INCHES 2015
15. 0.95 INCHES 1994
HERE ARE SOME OF THE LOWEST COCORAHS RAINFALL REPORTS FOR MAY:
...COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE RAIN HAIL AND SNOW
NETWORK......WWW.COCORAHS.ORG
SC-RC-6 BLYTHEWOOD 4.7 SSE.............0.06 INCHES
SC-RC-55 COLUMBIA 8.4 NNW...............0.14 INCHES*
SC-KR-14 LUGOFF 2.2 NNW.................0.16 INCHES
SC-AK-59 NEW ELLENTON 2.7 NE............0.27 INCHES
SC-BM-1 DENMARK 2.8 WNW................0.31 INCHES*
GA-BK-1 WAYNESBORO 3.3 SW..............0.92 INCHES*
* OBSERVERS REPORTED EVERY DAY OF THE MONTH...THANK YOU!
HERE ARE SOME OF THE LOWEST NWS COOP OBSERVER REPORTS FOR MAY:
WATS1 WATEREE DAM.................0.02 INCHES
WNBS1 WINNSBORO...................0.06 INCHES
BSPS1 BISHOPVILLE WAGS 1 ENE......0.37 INCHES
AKIS1 AIKEN 2 E...................0.49 INCHES
CTFS1 CHESTERFIELD 3 E............0.54 INCHES
HERE ARE SOME OF THE LOWEST RCWINDS RAINFALL REPORTS FOR MAY:
WESTWOOD HIGH SCHOOL BLYTHEWOOD...0.12 INCHES
UPPER RICHLAND CHAPIN.............0.24 INCHES
GADSDEN...........................0.24 INCHES
BLYTHEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL............0.28 INCHES
ELDERS POND COLUMBIA..............0.31 INCHES
HIGHEST WIND GUSTS AT EACH ASOS LOCATION DURING THE MONTH:
COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT (CAE)......55 MPH ON THE 11TH
AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD (AGS)..........38 MPH ON THE 12TH
ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT (OGB)...37 MPH ON THE 11TH
COLUMBIA HAMILTON OWENS FLD (CUB).30 MPH ON THE 18TH
AUGUSTA DANIEL FIELD (DNL)........29 MPH ON THE 18TH
HIGHEST WIND GUSTS AT EACH LAKE OBSERVING SITE DURING THE MONTH:
CLARKS HILL LAKE THURMOND DAM (CHDS1)...40 MPH ON THE 11TH
LAKE MURRAY DAM (RCWINDS)...............38 MPH ON THE 18TH
LAKE MURRAY FLOTILLA ISLAND (LMFS1).....37 MPH ON THE 18TH
LAKE MURRAY TOWERS (IRMS1/USGS).........32 MPH ON THE 26TH
LAKE WATEREE DAM (WATS1)................28 MPH ON THE 22ND
WATER TEMPERATURE AT THE LAKE MURRAY TOWERS (DEPTH APPROX. 6 FEET):
WARMEST...81.5 DEGREES ON THE 21ST
COOLEST...66.0 DEGREES ON THE 7TH
HIGHEST WIND GUSTS AT SOME RICHLAND COUNTY MESONET (RCWINDS) SITES
DURING THE MONTH:
WILLIAMS BRICE STADIUM COLUMBIA....42 MPH ON THE 18TH
DUTCH FORK HIGH SCHOOL IRMO........38 MPH ON THE 18TH
JACKSON CREEK COLUMBIA.............36 MPH ON THE 27TH
FAIRVIEW COMPLEX PROSPERITY........34 MPH ON THE 26TH
HEADQUARTERS COLUMBIA..............33 MPH ON THE 27TH
RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH AT MAY:
AUGUSTA...
NONE
COLUMBIA...
NONE
EVENTS FOR MAY 2015:
MAY 7TH THROUGH 10TH...SUB TROPICAL STORM ANA DEVELOPED ON THE EVENING
OF THE 7TH APPROXIMATELY 170 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MYRTLE BEACH. THE
SYSTEM SLOWLY STRENGTHENED AND BECOME MORE TROPICAL IN NATURE AND WAS
UPGRADED TO TROPICAL STORM ANA ON THE MORNING OF THE 9TH. ON THE MORNING
OF THE 10TH...TS ANA CAME ASHORE NEAR MYRTLE BEACH AT APPROXIMATELY 6 AM.
THIS WAS THE EARLIEST RECORDED LANDFALL OF A TROPICAL STORM IN SOUTH
CAROLINA. IT PRODUCED 5.88 INCHES OF RAINFALL OVER TWO DAYS AT THE MYRTLE
BEACH AIRPORT. A WIND GUST OF 50 MPH WAS OBSERVED AT THE NORTH MYRTLE BEACH
AIRPORT AT 353 AM SUNDAY MORNING...THE 10TH.
MAY 11TH...A SURFACE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD
FRONT PRODUCED SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MIDLANDS.
THE SEVERE STORMS PRODUCED DAMAGING WINDS AND SOME HAIL. THERE WERE SEVERAL
REPORTS OF TREES DOWN IN LOWER RICHLAND COUNTY.
MAY 18TH...A WEAK TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE ACROSS THE PIEDMONT WAS THE FOCUS
FOR ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH
RIVER AREA. THERE WERE REPORTS OF TREES DOWN IN LINCOLN COUNTY GEORGIA AND
LEXINGTON COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA.
MAY 26TH...WIDELY SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ACROSS THE MIDLANDS.
THERE WERE MULTIPLE REPORTS OF TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN SALUDA COUNTY.
YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS...
COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2014/2015 MONTHLY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL...
AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE
JAN 2014 52.4/-3.6 28.1/-5.6 40.3 44.8 -4.5
FEB 60.3/ 0.0 37.4/+0.6 48.9 48.5 +0.4
MAR 65.2/-3.0 39.1/-3.9 52.2 55.6 -3.4
APR 78.3/+2.0 52.8/+2.4 65.6 63.4 +2.2
MAY 86.4/+2.6 62.2/+2.7 74.3 71.7 +2.6
JUN 92.4/+2.4 71.6/+3.4 82.0 79.1 +2.9
JUL 92.7/ 0.0 73.4/+1.8 83.0 82.2 +0.8
AUG 92.2/+1.5 71.7/+0.7 82.0 80.8 +1.2
SEP 84.9/-0.3 68.4/+4.2 76.7 74.7 +2.0
OCT 79.9/+3.8 53.6/+1.5 66.8 64.1 +2.7
NOV 63.1/-4.2 38.0/-4.3 50.5 54.8 -4.3
DEC 61.0/+2.8 39.1/+3.8 50.0 46.7 +3.3
ANNUAL 74.2/-1.3 51.3/-1.1 62.7 63.9 -1.2
JAN 2015 55.7/-0.3 33.7/ 0.0 44.7 44.8 -0.1
FEB 54.1/-6.2 32.1/-4.7 43.1 48.5 -5.4
MAR 70.3/+2.1 46.9/+3.9 58.6 55.6 +3.0
APR 77.8/+1.5 50.4/+5.7 67.0 63.4 +3.6
MAY 86.0/+2.2 61.0/+1.5 73.5 71.7 +1.8
AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2014/2015 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND
DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL...
AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE
JAN 2014 52.7/-5.2 26.3/-6.5 39.5 45.4 -5.9
FEB 61.9/-2.5 34.9/ 0.0 48.4 49.1 -0.7
MAR 66.1/-3.8 37.6/-4.4 51.9 55.9 -4.0
APR 77.3/ 0.0 49.1/+1.0 63.2 62.7 +0.5
MAY 85.3/+0.3 58.0/+0.7 71.6 71.7 +0.5
JUN 90.7/-0.3 67.2/+1.0 78.9 78.6 +0.3
JUL 92.2/-1.2 68.4/-1.4 80.3 81.6 -1.3
AUG 91.7/-0.1 67.6/-1.7 79.7 80.5 -0.8
SEP 84.9/-1.8 66.6/+4.0 75.7 74.6 +1.1
OCT 81.4/+3.7 49.3/-1.7 65.3 64.4 +0.9
NOV 64.2/-4.9 34.2/-7.2 49.2 55.2 -6.0
DEC 62.3/+2.3 37.4/+2.9 49.8 47.2 +2.6
ANNUAL 74.5/-2.4 48.1/-2.9 61.3 63.9 -2.6
JAN 2015 55.8/-2.1 32.1/-0.7 44.0 45.4 -1.4
FEB 55.4/-6.9 30.1/-5.8 42.8 49.1 -6.3
MAR 71.3/+1.4 45.3/+3.3 58.3 55.9 +2.4
APR 77.8/+0.5 54.9/+6.8 66.3 62.7 +3.6
MAY 86.7/+1.7 58.1/+0.8 72.4 71.1 +1.3
COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2014/2015 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION...
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE
(INCHES)
JAN 2014 3.40 3.58 -0.18
FEB 2.92 3.61 -0.69
MAR 3.93 3.73 +0.20
APR 2.99 2.62 +0.37
MAY 5.72 2.97 +2.75
JUN 1.41 4.69 -3.28
JUL 2.83 5.46 -2.63
AUG 4.88 5.26 -0.38
SEP 2.81 3.54 -0.73
OCT 3.05 3.17 -0.12
NOV 4.37 2.74 +1.63
DEC 3.90 3.22 +0.68
ANNUAL 40.80 44.59 -3.79
JAN 2015 2.60 3.58 -0.98
FEB 4.76 3.61 +1.15
MAR 2.78 3.73 -0.95
APR 4.03 2.62 +1.41
MAY 1.71 2.97 -1.26
AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2014/2015 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION...
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE
(INCHES)
JAN 2014 2.48 3.91 -1.43
FEB 3.73 3.92 -0.19
MAR 2.56 4.18 -1.62
APR 4.59 2.84 +1.75
MAY 5.50 2.65 +2.85
JUN 2.27 4.72 -2.45
JUL 5.53 4.33 +1.20
AUG 1.76 4.32 -2.56
SEP 2.26 3.22 -0.96
OCT 0.61 3.27 -2.66
NOV 3.19 2.82 +0.37
DEC 4.21 3.39 +0.82
ANNUAL 36.42 43.57 -7.15
JAN 2015 2.10 3.91 -1.81
FEB 4.70 3.92 +0.78
MAR 3.04 4.18 -1.14
APR 4.86 2.84 +2.02
MAY 0.93 2.65 -1.72
THE OUTLOOK FOR JUNE...
THE FORECAST CALLS FOR A 33 TO 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
THE 3-MONTH OUTLOOK FOR SUMMER (JUNE/JULY/AUGUST)...
THE FORECAST CALLS FOR A 33 TO 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AND EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW AND NORMAL
PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE 3 MONTH PERIOD.
ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)...
..EL NINO ADVISORY CONTINUES
EL NINO CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN
PACIFIC. THERE IS APPROXIMATELY 90 PERCENT CHANCE THAT EL NINO
CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE SUMMER AND
A GREATER THAN 80 PERCENT CHANCE THAT IT WILL LAST THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF 2015.
DURING THE LAST FOUR WEEKS...AN INCREASE IN SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURE
ANOMALIES HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC.
DUE TO THE WEAK STRENGTH OF THE EL NINO...WIDESPREAD OR SIGNIFICANT
GLOBAL WEATHER PATTERN IMPACTS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED.
HOWEVER...CERTAIN IMPACTS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH EL NINO MAY APPEAR
EARLY THIS SUMMER IN PARTS OF THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE.
THIS WOULD INCLUDE WETTER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS ALONG THE U.S. GULF
COAST AND SOUTHEAST. CLIMATE OUTLOOKS AND ENSO DISCUSSIONS COURTESY
NOAA CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER...WWW.CPC.NOAA.GOV.
NOTE...
MUCH APPRECIATION GOES OUT TO OUR NWS COOPERATIVE WEATHER
OBSERVERS...COCORAHS (COMMUNITY...COLLABORATIVE...RAIN...HAIL AND
SNOW NETWORK) OBSERVERS...SOUTH CAROLINA STATE CLIMATE
OFFICE...SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER...RICHLAND COUNTY
EMERGENCY SERVICES AND LOCAL WEATHER PARTNERS FOR THE DATA THEY
PROVIDE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION IS
GREATLY APPRECIATED.
TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR COLUMBIA GO BACK TO 1887 AND FOR AUGUSTA
BACK TO 1873. PRECIPITATION RECORDS FOR COLUMBIA GO BACK TO 1878 AND
FOR AUGUSTA BACK TO 1871.
ADDITIONAL CLIMATE INFORMATION...INCLUDING CURRENT AND ARCHIVED
DAILY AND MONTHLY SUMMARIES...CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE COLUMBIA SC HOME PAGE AT
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/CAE .
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