PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 450 AM EDT WED AUG 14 2014 ...JULY 2014 CLIMATE SUMMARY... ...TEMPERATURES CLOSE TO NORMAL FOR THE MONTH... ...PRECIPITATION QUITE VARIABLE FOR THE MONTH... ...ARTHUR...FIRST TROPICAL STORM OF THE SEASON DEVELOPED OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST. ...FLOODING EVENT IN ORANGEBURG COUNTY... ...FIRST 100 DEGREE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES AT COLUMBIA SINCE THE SUMMER OF 2012... MUCH LIKE JUNE, JULY WAS ANOTHER ACTIVE MONTH ACROSS THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. ALTHOUGH TEMPERATURES AVERAGED AROUND NORMAL ACROSS THE AREA...PRECIPITATION WAS WIDELY VARIED DEPENDING ON YOUR LOCATION. WE ALSO HAD OUR FIRST TROPICAL STORM OF THE SEASON. THE ORIGINS OF ARTHUR CAN BE TRACED BACK TO LATE JUNE AS AN AREA OF CONVECTION/LOW PRESSURE MOVED OFF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST. THIS FEATURE EVENTUALLY GAINED TROPICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ON JULY 1ST TROPICAL DEPRESSION ONE WAS UPGRADED TO TROPICAL STORM ARTHUR. THE STORM REMAINED EAST OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST BUT STRENGTHENED INTO A CATEGORY 2 HURRICANE WITH WINDS OF 100 MPH WHEN IT STRUCK THE SOUTHEAST COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE EVENING OF THE 3RD. THERE WERE MULTIPLE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS...INCLUDING SOME VERY IMPRESSIVE RAINFALL TOTALS AND FLOODING IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF ORANGEBURG. ON JULY THE 8TH...THE TEMPERATURE CLIMBED TO 100 DEGREES AT COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT. ALTHOUGH THIS WAS NOT A RECORD FOR THE DATE...IT WAS THE FIRST TIME SINCE JULY 27TH, 2012 THAT THE CENTURY MARK HAS BEEN REACHED. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT AUGUSTA REGIONAL BUSH FIELD WAS 80.3 DEGREES OR 1.3 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 80.3 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT WAS 83.0 DEGREES OR 0.8 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 82.2 DEGREES. RAINFALL AVERAGED 2 TO 5 INCHES ACROSS THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA DURING JULY. SOME AREAS SUCH AS SALUDA AND AIKEN COUNTIES RECEIVED AROUND 1 INCH OF RAIN OR LESS. THIS IS ONLY 10 TO 50 PERCENT OF NORMAL FOR THE MONTH. THERE WERE OTHER AREAS THAT RECEIVED IMPRESSIVE RAINFALL AMOUNTS. PORTION OF LANCASTER...ORANGEBURG AND BURKE COUNTIES RECEIVED OVER 8 INCHES OF RAIN. THIS IS UP TO 300 PERCENT ABOVE NORMAL IN SOME OF THOSE LOCATIONS. HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHEST COCORAHS RAINFALL REPORTS FOR JULY: ...COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE RAIN HAIL AND SNOW NETWORK......WWW.COCORAHS.ORG SC-OR-9 ORANGEBURG 0.3 ENE............10.00 INCHES SC-AK-27 WILLISTON 4.3 NNW..............8.59 INCHES SC-OR-11 NEESES 7.0 SE..................7.58 INCHES SC-LX-7 OAK GROVE 1.4 N................7.37 INCHES SC-LN-2 FORT MILL 3.5 ENE..............7.31 INCHES HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHEST NWS COOP OBSERVER REPORTS FOR JULY: ORBS1 ORANGEBURG 2..............9.80 INCHES BAMS1 BAMBERG...................6.60 INCHES CTFS1 CHESTERFIELD 3E...........5.32 INCHES CEWS1 CHERAW WATER PLANT........5.19 INCHES PLNS1 PELION 4NW................4.66 INCHES HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHEST RAINFALL TOTALS FROM THE RCWINDS MESONET IN RICHLAND COUNTY: GILLS CREEK.........5.87 INCHES SPRINGHILL..........5.04 INCHES PUBLIC WORKS........4.41 INCHES EASTOVER............4.29 INCHES MLK PARK............4.06 INCHES HIGHEST WIND GUSTS AT EACH ASOS LOCATION DURING THE MONTH: AUGUSTA DANIEL FIELD (DNL)........40 MPH ON THE 9TH AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD (AGS)..........37 MPH ON THE 9TH HAMILTON OWENS AIRPORT (CUB)......33 MPH ON THE 28TH ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT (OGB)...33 MPH ON THE 3RD COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT (CAE)......31 MPH ON THE 31ST HIGHEST WIND GUSTS AT EACH LAKE OBSERVING SITE DURING THE MONTH: WATEREE DAM (WATS1).....................37 MPH ON THE 15TH LAKE MURRAY TOWERS (IRMS1)..............34 MPH ON THE 3RD LAKE MURRAY FLOTILLA ISLAND (LMFS1).....33 MPH ON THE 15TH LAKE THURMOND DAM (CHDS1)...............32 MPH ON THE 3RD AND 9TH RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH AT AUGUSTA: ON THE 17TH...SET A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR THE DATE. THE LOW FOR THE MORNING WAS 60 DEGREES...THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 61 DEGREES SET IN 1967. ON THE 18TH...TIED THE RECORD LOW FOR THE DATE OF 63 DEGREES SET IN 2001...2000 AND 1987. RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH AT COLUMBIA: ON THE 14TH...TIED THE RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 76 DEGREES SET IN 1937...1932...1919 AND 1889. ON THE 28TH...SET A NEW RECORD HIGH MINIMUM TEMPERATURE FOR THE DATE. THE LOW FOR THE MORNING WAS 80 DEGREES...THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 78 DEGREES IN 1936. OF NOTE: THE LAST TIME THE LOW TEMPERATURE REMAINED IN THE 80S AT THE COLUMBIA AIRPORT WAS AUGUST 27TH OF 2011...WHEN THE LOW ALSO ONLY FELL TO 80 DEGREES. THE WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED AT THE COLUMBIA HAS BEEN 82 DEGREES...WHICH WAS SET ON AUGUST 4TH OF 2011...AND ON JUNE 30TH OF 1936. EVENTS FOR JULY 2014: JULY 3RD...A COUPLE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVED FROM LINCOLN COUNTY EASTWARD INTO MCCORMICK COUNTY. THE STRONG WINDS DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES. JULY 9TH...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MIDLANDS DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES. THE AREA HIT HARDEST WAS ACROSS LANCASTER AND FAIRFIELD COUNTIES. SEVERAL TREES WERE DOWNED DUE TO A MICROBURST NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF BLACKSTOCK. JULY 14TH...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ALONG A PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH ACROSS THE MIDLANDS. ORANGEBURG COUNTY WAS THE HARDEST HIT. THE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTED STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE THAT TOOK DOWN NUMEROUS TREES FOR APPROXIMATELY 100 YARDS. JULY 15TH...A COUPLE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BROUGHT DOWN SOME LARGE LIMBS AND A FEW TREES ACROSS THE MIDLANDS. JULY 20TH...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS PORTION OF RICHLAND COUNTY. THE RCWINDS SITE AT GILLS CREEK REPORTED AT TOTAL OF 3.39 INCHES OF RAIN...1.53 INCHES OF THAT RAIN OCCURRED IN A 15 MINUTE PERIOD. HEAVY RAIN ALSO OCCURRED AT THE HEADWATERS OF ROCKY BRANCH CREEK AT MLK PARK WHERE 1.38 INCHES OF RAIN FELL. THE HEAVY RAINFALL PRODUCED MINOR FLOODING ALONG ROCKY BRANCH CREEK. THE GAGE CRESTED AT 7.49 FEET AT PICKENS STREET...FLOOD STAGE IS 7.2 FEET. THE GAGE CRESTED NEAR 7.0 FEET AT WHALEY AND MAIN STREETS...FLOOD STAGE IS 7.2 FEET. THERE WERE REPORTS OF STREET FLOODING IN THE CITY OF FORECAST ACRES. JULY 21ST AND 22ND...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED TREMENDOUS RAINFALL AMOUNTS ACROSS PORTIONS OF ORANGEBURG AND CALHOUN COUNTIES. THE HEAVIEST RAIN FELL BETWEEN THE TOWN OF CORDOVA AND THE CITY OF ORANGEBURG. THERE WERE 2 WATER RESCUES IN THE CITY OF ORANGEBURG AS MOTORIST HAD TO BE RESCUED FROM THEIR VEHICLE. THE EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTED FLOODING DAMAGE TO THE COUNTY LIBRARY AND COURTHOUSE. THE EM ALSO REPORTED THAT NUMEROUS ROADS ACROSS THE COUNTY WERE FLOODED. THERE WAS AN UNOFFICIAL REPORT OF 10.55 INCHES OF RAIN IN CORDOVA. HERE ARE SOME OF THE RAINFALL REPORTS FROM THE EVENT: CORDOVA............................10.55 INCHES ORBS1 - STREAM GAGE/PRECIP GAGE.....8.91 INCHES (AT THE STREAM PRECIP GAGE...3.73 INCHES OF RAIN FELL BETWEEN 6 PM AND 7 PM EDT) ORBS1 - WATER PLANT.................8.07 INCHES KOGB - ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT....4.23 INCHES (AT THE ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT 2.06 INCHES FELL IN ONE HOUR) THE NORTH FORK OF THE EDISTO RIVER AT ORANGEBURG CRESTED AT 7.53 FEET. FLOOD STAGE IS 8.0 FEET. AT 4 PM JULY 21ST THE STREAM LEVEL WAS 2.70 FEET WITH A FLOW OF 195 CUBIC FEET/SEC. AT 1 AM JULY 22ND THE STREAM CRESTED AT 7.53 FEET WITH A FLOW OF 1193 CUBIC FEET/SEC. THIS ALL OCCURRED IN JUST 9 HOURS. THIS IS AN INCREASE OF 4.83 FEET IN HEIGHT AND AN ESTIMATED 500 PERCENT INCREASE IN WATER VOLUME. YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS... COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2013/2014 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE JAN 2013 64.0/+8.0 41.1/+7.4 52.5 44.8 +7.7 FEB 59.2/-1.1 36.2/-0.6 47.7 48.5 -0.8 MAR 63.5/-4.7 38.5/-4.5 51.0 55.6 -4.6 APR 76.7/+0.4 53.4/+3.0 65.0 63.4 +1.6 MAY 81.4/-2.4 59.2/-0.3 70.3 71.7 -1.4 JUN 88.1/-1.9 70.1/+1.9 79.1 79.1 0.0 JUL 88.4/-4.3 72.7/+1.1 80.5 82.2 -1.7 AUG 87.6/-3.1 71.0/ 0.0 79.3 80.8 -1.5 SEP 86.9/+1.7 65.5/+0.3 76.2 74.7 +1.5 OCT 77.9/+1.8 54.8/+2.7 66.3 64.1 +2.2 NOV 65.0/-2.3 40.5/-1.8 52.7 54.8 -2.1 DEC 62.5/+4.3 40.6/+5.3 51.5 46.7 +4.8 ANNUAL 75.1/-0.4 53.6/+1.2 64.4 63.9 +0.5 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 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2013/2014 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE JAN 2013 65.4/+7.5 39.4/+6.6 52.4 45.4 +7.0 FEB 59.8/-2.5 35.5/-0.4 47.6 49.1 -1.5 MAR 63.8/-6.1 37.9/-4.1 50.8 55.9 -5.1 APR 76.2/-1.1 48.5/+0.4 62.4 62.7 -0.3 MAY 81.0/-4.0 55.8/-1.5 68.4 71.1 -2.7 JUN 88.2/-2.8 67.4/+1.2 77.8 78.6 -0.8 JUL 87.9/-5.5 71.0/+1.2 79.5 81.6 -2.1 AUG 87.7/-4.1 68.6/-0.7 78.2 80.5 -2.3 SEP 87.2/+0.5 61.8/-0.8 74.5 74.6 -0.1 OCT 78.4/+0.7 51.9/+0.9 65.2 64.4 +0.8 NOV 65.9/-3.2 38.7/-2.7 52.3 55.2 -2.9 DEC 62.5/+2.5 38.0/+3.5 50.3 47.2 +3.1 ANNUAL 75.3/-1.6 51.2/+0.2 63.3 63.9 -0.6 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 COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2013/2014 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE (INCHES) JAN 2013 1.21 3.58 -2.37 FEB 5.51 3.61 +1.90 MAR 3.65 3.73 -0.08 APR 4.63 2.62 +2.01 MAY 3.62 2.97 +0.65 JUN 6.17 4.69 +1.48 JUL 11.21 5.46 +5.75 AUG 7.51 5.26 +2.25 SEP 2.04 3.54 -1.50 OCT 1.98 3.17 -1.19 NOV 2.06 2.74 -0.68 DEC 5.88 3.22 +2.66 ANNUAL 55.47 44.59 +10.88 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 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2013/2014 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE (INCHES) JAN 2013 0.60 3.91 -3.31 FEB 9.40 3.92 +5.48 MAR 3.11 4.18 -1.07 APR 4.23 2.84 +1.39 MAY 2.26 2.65 -0.39 JUN 10.83 4.72 +6.11 JUL 9.05 4.33 +4.72 AUG 5.84 4.32 +1.52 SEP 1.12 3.22 -2.10 OCT 0.36 3.27 -2.91 NOV 1.82 2.82 -1.00 DEC 6.90 3.39 +3.51 ANNUAL 55.54 43.57 +11.97 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 THE OUTLOOK FOR AUGUST... THE FORECAST CALLS FOR EQUAL CHANCES THAT TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION WILL EITHER BE BELOW...ABOVE OR NEAR NORMAL. THE 3-MONTH OUTLOOK FOR THE REMAINDER OF SUMMER INTO EALY FALL (AUG/SEP/OCT)... THE FORECAST CALLS FOR A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURE...AND EQUAL CHANCES THAT PRECIPITATION WILL EITHER BE BELOW...ABOVE OR NEAR NORMAL FOR THE 3-MONTH PERIOD. ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)... ...A EL NINO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE LATE SUMMER OR EARLY FALL... AN EL NINO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF EL NINO CONDITIONS WITHIN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS. AT THIS TIME...ENSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS CONTINUE ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN. SEA SURFACE TEMPERATURES ARE ABOVE AVERAGE ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND JUST WEST OF THE DATE LINE. THE CHANCES OF EL NINO HAS DECREASED TO ABOUT 65 PERCENT DURING THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE FALL AND EARLY WINTER. 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 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 . $$ VAUGHAN