Public Information Statement
National Weather Service
1100 AM EST Thu Jan 12 2017
...Climate Summary for December 2016...
...Some Drought Relief with Above Normal Rainfall...
...Temperatures Above Normal for the Month...
...First Winter Weather Event Across the Northern Midlands...
Much needed rain fell across the region during the month of
December. Temperatures will above normal along with above normal
precipitation across the region. The northern Midlands experienced
the first taste of Winter as cold high pressure wedged into the
region and produced some light freezing rain across the panhandle of
Lancaster County. The drought continued but conditions did improve
slightly by the end of the month due to the additional
precipitation.
...Augusta Average Temperatures...
The average temperature at Augusta Regional Bush Field for December
was 52.4 degrees or 5.2 degrees above the normal of 47.2
...Columbia Average Temperatures...
The average temperature at Columbia Metro Airport for December was
49.7 degrees or 3.0 degrees above the normal of 46.7 degrees.
...Augusta Rainfall...
Augusta Bush Field received 4.41 inches of rainfall during
December. Normal is 3.39 inches.
...Columbia Rainfall...
Columbia Metro Airport received 3.35 inches of rainfall during
December. Normal is 3.22 inches
Here are some of the highest rainfall CoCoRaHS Reports for
December:
SC-BM-1 Denmark 2.8 WNW..........6.61 inches
SC-BM-3 Barnwell 1.2 WSW.........6.59 inches
SC-AK-27 Williston 4.3 NNW........6.43 inches
SC-OR-35 North 5.1 NE.............6.35 inches
SC-OR-25 Cope 4.1 NE..............6.21 inches
GA-BK-5 Blythe 2.8W..............6.00 inches
GA-CU-9 Appling 2.0 SE...........5.84 inches
Here are some of the lowest NWS Coop Observer Reports for
December:
WYNG1 Waynesboro..................6.82 inches
SMRS1 Sumter......................6.10 inches
BAMS1 Bamberg.....................6.08 inches
BNLS1 Barnwell 5 ENE..............5.98 inches
BSPS1 Bishopville WAGS 1 ENE......5.38 inches
Highest Wind Gusts at ASOS Sites during December:
Augusta Bush Field (AGS)..............44 mph on the 29th
Columbia Hamilton Owens Field (CUB....41 mph on the 29th
Columbia Metro Airport (CAE)..........39 mph on the 29th
Orangeburg County Airport (OGB).......39 mph on the 29th
Augusta Bush Field (DNL)..............36 mph on the 29th
Highest Wind Gusts on the area lakes during December:
Flotilla Island Lake Murray (LMFS1)...47 mph on the 29th
Lake Murray Towers (IRMS1-USGS).......40 mph on the 29th
Lake Thurmond Dam (CHDS1).............39 mph on the 29th
Lake Wateree Dam (CHDS1)..............37 mph on the 29th
Highest Wind Gusts at RCWINDS Mesonet Sites for December:
Williams Brice Stadium................59 mph on the 29th
Lake Murray Dam.......................46 mph on the 29th
Broad River - St. Andrews.............45 mph on the 29th
Pineview-Garners Ferry................44 mph on the 29th
Hamilton Owens Field..................41 mph on the 29th
Lake Murray Water Temperatures at The Towers:
Warmest...62.8 degrees on Dec. 1st
Coolest...55.1 degrees on Dec.. 31st
TEMPERATURE RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH OF
DECEMBER:
AUGUSTA...
December 18th the high temperature was 82 degrees. This
broke the previous record of 80 degrees set in 1984.
COLUMBIA...
December 18th the high temperature was 84 degrees. This
broke the previous record of 82 degrees set in 2008.
Events for December 2016...
December 17th...Strong arctic high pressure over New England wedged
southward into the Carolinas. The wedge conditions produced some
light freezing rain across the northern half of lancaster county on
the morning of the 17th.
December 29th...A strong pressure gradient behind a vigorous cold
front produced strong wind gusts across the Midlands and Central
Savannah River Area.
Here are some of the strongest wind gusts that occurred:
Williams Brice Stadium (RCWINDS)..........59 mph
McEntire JNG Base (MMT)...................48 mph
Flotilla Island Lake Murray (LMFS1).......47 mph
Lake Murray Dam (RCWINDS).................46 mph
Broad River-St. Andrews (RCWINDS).........45 mph
Augusta Bush Field (AGS)..................44 mph
Pinewview-Garners Ferry (RCWINDS).........44 mph
Columbia Hamilton Owens Field (CUB).......41 mph
Lake Murray Towers (USGS).................40 mph
Shaw AFB (SSC)............................40 mph
YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS...
COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2015/2016 MONTHLY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL...
AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE
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
JUN 93.6/+3.6 71.6/+3.4 82.6 79.1 +3.5
JUL 96.4/+3.7 74.3/+2.7 85.3 82.2 +3.1
AUG 92.9/+2.2 72.2/+1.2 82.6 80.8 +1.8
SEP 85.9/+0.7 67.6/+3.4 76.7 74.7 +2.0
OCT 75.6/-0.5 53.6/+1.5 64.6 64.1 +0.5
NOV 69.4/+2.1 48.6/+6.3 59.0 54.8 +4.2
DEC 70.1/+11.9 50.1/+14.8 60.1 46.7 +13.4
JAN 2016 55.1/-0.9 33.6/-0.1 44.3 44.8 -0.5
FEB 60.1/-0.2 37.9/+1.1 49.0 48.5 +0.5
MAR 75.0/+6.8 49.8/+6.8 62.4 55.6 +6.8
APR 78.1/+1.8 53.6/+3.2 65.8 63.4 +2.4
MAY 83.4/-0.4 61.9/+2.4 72.7 71.7 +1.0
JUN 94.2/+4.2 71.7/+3.5 83.0 79.1 +3.9
JUL 99.2/+6.5 75.2/+3.6 87.2 82.2 +5.0
AUG 93.8/+3.1 74.8/+3.8 84.3 80.8 +3.5
SEP 89.2/+4.0 69.6/+5.4 79.4 74.7 +4.7
OCT 80.5/+4.4 56.0/+3.9 68.3 64.1 +4.2
NOV 70.6/+3.3 41.8/-0.5 56.2 54.8 +1.4
DEC 59.6/+1.4 39.9/+4.6 49.7 46.7 +3.0
AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2015/2016 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND
DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL...
AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE
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
JUN 93.1/+2.1 68.1/+1.9 80.6 78.6 +2.0
JUL 95.8/+2.4 71.3/+1.5 83.6 81.6 +2.0
AUG 91.4/-0.4 69.8/+0.5 80.6 80.5 +0.1
SEP 85.5/-1.2 65.1/+2.5 75.3 74.6 +0.7
OCT 77.7/-2.1 52.4/+1.4 64.0 64.4 -0.4
NOV 70.2/+1.1 47.0/+5.6 58.6 55.2 +3.4
DEC 70.3/+10.3 48.3/+13.8 59.3 47.2 +12.1
JAN 2016 55.3/-2.6 33.1/+0.3 44.2 45.4 -1.2
FEB 61.7/-0.6 37.9/+2.0 49.8 49.0 +0.7
MAR 74.4/+4.5 47.1/+5.1 60.8 55.9 +4.9
APR 77.5/+0.2 50.1/+2.0 63.8 62.7 +1.2
MAY 83.2/-1.8 58.2/+0.9 70.7 71.1 -0.4
JUN 92.2/+1.2 68.8/+2.6 80.5 78.6 +1.9
JUL 97.5/+4.1 71.7/+1.9 84.6 81.6 +3.0
AUG 94.2/+2.4 72.1/+2.8 83.1 80.2 +2.6
SEP 88.9/+2.2 66.0/+3.4 77.4 74.6 +2.8
OCT 82.5/+4.8 53.8/+2.8 68.2 64.4 +3.8
NOV 73.4/+4.3 41.2/-0.2 57.3 55.2 +2.1
DEC 62.4/+2.4 41.8/+7.3 52.4 47.2 +5.2
COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2015/2016 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION...
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE
(INCHES)
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
JUN 8.79 4.69 +4.10
JUL 1.53 5.46 -3.93
AUG 4.85 5.26 -0.41
SEP 6.15 3.54 +2.61
OCT 14.46 3.17 +11.29
NOV 5.47 2.74 +2.73
DEC 6.45 3.22 +3.23
ANNUAL 63.58 44.59 +18.99
JAN 2016 1.94 3.58 -1.64
FEB 4.69 3.61 +1.08
MAR 1.88 3.73 -1.85
APR 2.80 2.62 +0.18
MAY 2.61 2.97 -0.36
JUN 2.39 4.69 -2.30
JUL 1.79 5.46 -3.67
AUG 4.83 5.26 -0.43
SEP 6.81 3.54 +3.27
OCT 2.09 3.27 -1.18
NOV 2.01 2.74 -0.73
DEC 3.35 3.22 +0.13
ANNUAL 39.55 44.59 -5.04
AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2015/2016 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION...
TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE
(INCHES)
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
JUN 3.50 4.72 -1.22
JUL 3.52 4.33 -0.81
AUG 3.74 4.32 -0.58
SEP 4.05 3.22 +0.83
OCT 4.62 3.27 +1.35
NOV 5.41 2.82 +2.59
DEC 6.92 3.39 +3.53
ANNUAL 47.39 43.57 +3.82
JAN 2016 1.66 3.91 -2.25
FEB 3.76 3.92 -0.16
MAR 3.18 4.18 -1.00
APR 4.42 2.84 +1.58
MAY 5.71 2.65 +3.06
JUN 2.87 4.72 -1.85
JUL 1.31 4.33 -3.02
AUG 3.66 4.32 -0.66
SEP 6.81 3.54 +3.27
OCT 4.45 3.17 +1.28
NOV 0.62 2.82 -2.20
DEC 4.41 3.39 +1.02
ANNUAL 38.27 43.57 -5.02
THE 3-MONTH OUTLOOK FOR FALL/WINTER
(January/February/March)...
The forecast calls for a 40 percent chance of above normal
temperatures with 33 to 40 percent chance of below normal
precipitation.
ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)...
...La Nina Conditions are Present...
Equatorial sea surface temperatures are below average in the
central and east-central equatorial Pacific Ocean. A transition
to ENSO-neutral conditions is favored during January to March
2017.
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...USGS 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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