Public Information Statement National Weather Service Columbia SC 1231 PM EST Fri Mar 9 2018 ...February 2018 Climate Summary... ...Warmest February on Record at both Augusta and Columbia... ...Temperatures Averaged Around 10 Degrees Above Normal... ...First River Flooding Since May 2017... ...Several Record Temperatures set at both Augusta and Columbia... ...Rainfall near or below normal for the month... February will be remembered for the record warmth that occurred throughout the month. It was the warmest February on record at both Augusta and Columbia. Both stations set several daily record temperatures during the month. Rainfall during the month was near normal across the western and northern Midlands, but below normal across the central and southern Midlands along with much of the Central Savannah River Area. Heavy rainfall across western and central North Carolina and the Upstate on February 4th into early February 5th produced river flooding along the Congaree River. The last river flooding events occurred back in May of 2017. Here are the top 5 warmest February average temperatures for both Augusta and Columbia. At Augusta: 1. 60.0 degrees in 2017 2. 58.8 degrees in 1927 3. 58.5 degrees in 1890 4. 58.3 degrees in 2017 5. 57.2 degrees in 1884 At Columbia: 1. 59.8 degrees in 2018 2. 57.6 degrees in 1927 and 1890 4. 57.2 degrees in 2017 5. 56.1 degrees in 1990 ...Augusta Average Temperatures... The average temperature at Augusta Regional Bush Field for February was 60.0 degrees or 10.9 degrees above the normal of 49.1 degrees. ...Columbia Average Temperatures... The average temperature at Columbia Metro Airport for February was 59.8 degrees or 11.3 degrees above the normal of 48.5 degrees. ...Orangeburg Average Temperatures... The average temperature at the Orangeburg County Airport for February was 59.8 degrees or 10.2 degrees above the normal of 49.6 degrees. ...Augusta Rainfall... Augusta Bush Field received 1.57 inches of rainfall during February. Normal is 3.92 inches. ...Columbia Rainfall... Columbia Metro Airport received 1.61 inches of rainfall during February. Normal is 3.61 inches ...Orangeburg Rainfall... Orangeburg County Airport received 1.26 inches of rainfall during February. Normal is 3.59 inches Here are some of the highest monthly rainfall CoCoRaHS Reports for February: SC-NW-11 Silverstreet 5.7 WNW.....4.87 inches SC-NW-13 Newberry 1.0 N...........4.49 inches SC-LN-8 Lancaster 0.4 WSW........4.02 inches SC-NW-12 Prosperity 4.7 ENE.......3.79 inches SC-LN-2 Fort Mill 3.5 ENE........3.69 inches GA-CU-9 Appling 2.0 SE...........2.88 inches GA-MD-1 Thomson 2.5 S............2.81 inches GA-CU-14 Grovetown 4.5 NNW........2.55 inches GA-BK-1 Waynesboro 3.3 SW........2.12 inches GA-RC-9 West Augusta 0.9 NW......1.98 inches Here are some of the highest/lowest NWS Coop Observer monthly rainfall reports for February: NWYS1 Newberry WKDK...............3.86 inches CHPS1 Lake Greenwood..............3.20 inches THMG1 Thomson 1.5 SSE.............2.92 inches WNBS1 Winnsboro...................2.81 inches LIMS1 Little Mountain.............2.74 inches Highest Wind Gusts at ASOS Sites during February: Augusta Bush Field (AGS)..............49 mph on the 4th Orangeburg County Airport (OGB).......41 mph on the 4th Columbia Metro Airport (CAE)..........38 mph on the 16th Columbia Hamilton Owens Field (CUB)...34 mph on the 25th Augusta Daniel Field (DNL)............34 mph on the 25th. Highest Wind Gusts on the area lakes during February: Lake Murray Flotilla Island (LMFS1)...38 mph on the 7th Lake Wateree (WATS1)..................36 mph on the 25th Lake Murray Towers USGS (IRMS1).......36 mph on the 7th Lake Thurmond Dam (CHDS1).............34 mph on the 4th Lake Murray Dam (RCWINDS).............34 mph on the 7th Lake Murray Water Temperatures at The Towers: Warmest...60.3 degrees on February 25th Coolest...48.6 degrees on February 4th, 5th and 13th TEMPERATURE RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH OF February: Augusta... 20th...New record high temperature. High was was 83 degrees, previous record was 82 in 2014. 21st...New record high minimum temperature. Low was 66 degrees, previous record was 59 in 1991. Also the warmest February low temperature for the month, previous was 65 in February 27, 1944. 21st...New record high temperature. High was 86 degrees, previous record was 80 in 2011. Also, tied the warmest February high temperature for the month, also occurred in February 22, 1962. 22nd...Tied the record high temperature of 83 degrees set in 2011. 24th...Tied the record high temperature of 84 degrees set in 2017. COLUMBIA... 11th...New record high minimum temperature. Low was 62 degrees, previous record was 59 in 1932. 16th...New record high minimum temperature. Low was 64 degrees, previous record was 63 in 1990. 21st...New record high minimum temperature. Low was 67 degrees, previous record was 60 in 1990. Also, the warmest February low temperature for the month, previous was 65 in February 10th, 1939 and February 18th, 1891. 21st...New Record high temperature. High was 83 degrees, previous record was 81 in 1997. 22nd...New record high minimum temperature. Low was 63 degrees, previous record was 58 in 2017. 22nd...New record high temperature. High was 83 degrees, previous record was 81 in 2011. 23rd...Tied the record high temperature of 82 degrees set in 1962. 24th...New record high temperature. High was 83 degrees, previous record was 82 in 2017. 25th...New record high minimum temperature. Low was 63 degrees, previous record was 61 in 1993. Events for February 2018... February 4th... Heavy showers and a few strong thunderstorms produced strong winds across portions of the Midlands and CSRA. Tree were reported down in Richland County and Columbia County. Here are some of the highest wind gusts recorded: Augusta Bush field.............49 mph Williams Brice Stadium.........44 mph Thomson McDuffie County Arpt...43 mph Orangeburg County Arpt.........40 mph Columbia Metro Arpt............36 mph February 8th - 11th... Heavy rainfall on the 4th and 5th of February across western and central North Carolina and the Upstate produced high flows and minor river flooding along the Congaree River. The Congaree River at Columbia (COLS1), crested at 11.27 feet on the 9th. Action stage for Columbia is 10.0 feet and Flood stage is 19.0 feet. This produced some flooding along the Cayce and West Columbia Riverwalk. The Congaree River at Carolina Eastman (CEAS1) crested at 116.8 feet on the 9th. Flood stage is 115.0 feet. This produced some minor river flooding. The Congaree River at the Congaree National Park (GADS1) crested at 15.98 feet on the 10th. Flood stage is 15.0 feet. This produced some minor river flooding. Flooding occurred in portions of the Congaree National Park that included the boardwalk and some trails. The stream gage along Cedar Creek within the park crested at 8.52 feet on the 11th. Here are some rainfall reports from the 5th: Pomaria 2 SW...................1.60 inches CoCoRaHS Winnsboro Water Plant..........1.40 inches NWS Coop Lancaster 1 NNW................1.37 inches CoCoRaHS Saluda 3 ENE...................1.37 inches CoCoRaHS Pageland 9 WNW.................1.36 inches CoCoRaHS Saluda.........................1.33 inches CoCoRaHS Lancaster......................1.32 inches CoCoRaHS Chapin 2.9 SSE.................1.22 inches CoCoRaHS Blythewood 3 ENE...............1.20 inches CoCoRaHS Chapin 1 S.....................1.19 inches CoCoRaHS February 19th - 24th... Cool high pressure and abundant low level moisture across the area produced several days with dense fog across the Midlands and CSRA each morning. Many areas reported visibilities less than one quarter mile. YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS... COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2015/2016/2017 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE 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 JAN 2017 64.5/+8.5 43.0/+9.3 53.7 44.8 +8.9 FEB 71.4/+11.1 43.1/+6.3 57.2 48.5 +8.7 MAR 70.9/+2.7 44.1/+1.1 57.5 55.6 +1.9 APR 81.0/+4.7 57.7/+7.3 69.4 63.4 +6.0 MAY 85.2/+1.4 61.9/+2.4 73.6 71.7 +1.9 JUN 89.3/-0.7 70.1/+1.9 79.7 79.1 +0.6 JUL 93.7/+1.0 73.5/+1.9 83.6 82.2 +1.4 AUG 91.4/+0.7 73.2/+2.2 82.3 80.8 +1.5 SEP 88.6/+3.4 65.6/+1.4 77.1 74.7 +2.4 OCT 80.3/+4.2 55.8/+3.7 68.0 64.1 +3.9 NOV 70.1/+1.0 40.9/-0.5 55.5 55.2 +0.3 DEC 59.8/+1.6 39.4/+4.1 49.6 46.7 +2.9 JAN 2018 55.5/-0.5 30.5/-3.2 43.0 44.8 -1.8 FEB 70.1/+9.8 49.6/+12.8 59.8 48.5 +11.3 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2015/2016/2017 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE 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 JAN 2017 67.5/+9.6 43.5/+10.7 55.5 45.4 +10.1 FEB 73.2/+10.9 43.4/+7.5 58.3 49.1 +9.2 MAR 73.7/+3.8 43.8/+1.8 58.8 55.9 +2.9 APR 83.2/+5.9 55.4/+7.3 69.3 62.7 +6.6 MAY 87.1/+2.1 61.1/+3.8 74.1 71.1 +3.0 JUN 90.8/-0.2 69.4/+3.2 80.1 78.6 +1.5 JUL 94.3/+0.9 72.9/+3.1 83.6 81.6 +2.0 AUG 91.7/-0.1 72.8/+3.5 82.3 80.5 +1.8 SEP 87.4/+2.7 64.0/+1.4 76.7 74.6 +2.1 OCT 82.4/+4.7 54.7/+3.7 68.5 64.4 +4.1 NOV 68.9/+1.6 42.4/+0.1 55.6 54.8 +0.8 DEC 60.4/+0.4 38.8/+4.3 49.6 47.2 +2.4 JAN 2018 57.1/-0.8 29.2/-3.6 43.1 45.4 -2.3 FEB 71.6/+9.3 48.4/+12.5 60.0 49.1 +10.9 COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2015/2016/2017 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE (INCHES) 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 JAN 2017 7.04 3.58 +3.46 FEB 1.60 3.61 -2.01 MAR 2.38 3.73 -1.35 APR 6.11 2.62 +3.49 MAY 7.15 2.97 +4.18 JUN 5.13 4.69 +0.44 JUL 5.42 5.46 -0.04 AUG 1.92 5.26 -3.34 SEP 4.55 3.54 +1.01 OCT 1.57 3.17 -1.60 NOV 1.28 2.74 -1.46 DEC 3.29 3.22 +0.07 JAN 2018 2.42 3.58 -1.16 FEB 1.61 3.61 -2.00 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2015/2016/2017 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE (INCHES) 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 JAN 2017 10.13 3.91 +6.22 FEB 2.11 3.92 -1.81 MAR 1.77 4.18 -2.41 APR 2.60 2.84 -0.24 MAY 3.14 2.65 +0.69 JUN 3.52 4.72 -1.20 JUL 5.04 4.33 +0.71 AUG 5.87 4.32 +1.55 SEP 4.28 3.22 +1.06 OCT 0.83 3.27 -2.44 NOV 1.36 2.82 -1.46 DEC 4.11 3.39 +0.72 JAN 2018 2.09 3.91 -1.82 FEB 1.57 3.92 -2.35 The 3-Month Outlook for Spring (March/April/May)... The outlook calls for a 40 percent chance of above normal temperatures along with equal chances of above, below or normal precipitation. Go to the Climate Prediction Center web page at www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov for more details and the latest outlooks. ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)... ...La Nina Advisory... Equatorial sea surface temperatures are below average across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean. A transition from La Nina to ENSO-neutral is most likely during the Northern Hemisphere Spring. There is a 55% chance of ENSO-neutral during the March through May season. Climate Outlooks and ENSO Discussions courtesy of 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