PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 625 AM EDT OCT 1 2013 ...BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA... ...NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE AREA... SEPTEMBER WAS A BREAK FROM THE HEAVY RAINFALL OF THE SUMMER MONTHS AND TEMPERATURES WERE VERY CLOSE TO NORMAL. THE MONTH STARTED OFF QUITE WARM ACROSS THE REGION WITH TEMPERATURES AS MUCH AS 5 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. HOWEVER...BY THE END OF THE MONTH THE PATTERN HAD CHANGED AND COOLER TEMPERATURES AS MUCH AS 5 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL SETTLED ACROSS THE REGION. CLIMATOLOGICALLY THE MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALS BEGIN TO DIMINISH IN SEPTEMBER AS THE COOLER AND DRIER FALL WEATHER BEGINS TO DOMINATE THE WEATHER PATTERN. THERE WAS ONLY ONE SEVERE WEATHER EVENT AND NO FLOODING EVENTS ALONG ANY OF THE AREA RIVERS AND CREEKS. THE ONLY NOTABLE WEATHER FEATURE WAS THE LACK OF RAINFALL ACROSS THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. MOST OF THE HEAVY RAIN THAT FELL DURING THE MONTH WAS CONFINED TO THE COAST AND UPSTATE REGIONS. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT AUGUSTA REGIONAL BUSH FIELD WAS 74.5 DEGREES OR 0.1 DEGREES BELOW THE NORMAL OF 74.6 DEGREES. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AT COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT WAS 76.2 DEGREES OR 1.5 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 74.7 DEGREES. PRECIPITATION WAS BELOW NORMAL AT BOTH AUGUSTA AND COLUMBIA FOR THE MONTH. RAINFALL ACROSS THE AREA WAS NOT VERY IMPRESSIVE WITH AMOUNTS RANGING FROM JUST OVER ONE HALF INCH UP TO 3 INCHES. HERE ARE SOME OF HIGHEST AND LOWEST RAINFALL TOTALS FROM OUR COCORAHS AND NWS COOP OBSERVERS: COCORAHS: SC-CD-1 (SUMMERTON 8.4 SE).....3.80 INCHES SC-AK-49 (BURNETTOWN 1.4 NW)....2.78 INCHES SC-AK-23 (AIKEN 1.0 SSW)........2.77 INCHES SC-SM-1 (SUMTER 1.3 SE ).......2.76 INCHES SC-RC-9 (COLUMBIA 6.8 NNE )....2.73 INCHES SC-KR-4 (CAMDEN 6.6 NE)........0.84 INCHES SC-KR-12 (CAMDEN 3.1 SE)........0.84 INCHES SC-NW-11 (SILVERSTREET 5.7 WNW).0.87 INCHES SC-KR-14 (LUGOFF 2.2 NNW).......0.90 INCHES SC-KR-19 (CAMDEN 3.2 SE)........0.92 INCHES NWS COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS: BISHOPVILLE WAGS 1 ENE (BSPS1)..2.90 INCHES SANDHILL RESEARCH (SAHS1).......2.38 INCHES MANNING (MANS1).................2.23 INCHES HOLLY HILL 1 SW (HHLS1).........2.11 INCHES BARNWELL 5 ENE (BNLS1)..........1.90 INCHES COLUMBIA UNIV. SC (USCS1).......0.90 INCHES LUGOFF 2 NE (LUGS1).............0.91 INCHES MCCORMICK (MCCS1)...............1.01 INCHES CHERAW WATER PLANT (CEWS1)......1.02 INCHES WINNSBORO (WNBS1)...............1.09 INCHES EVENTS DURING SEPTEMBER: SEPTEMBER 2ND AND 3RD... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THESE STORMS PRODUCED ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THERE WAS A REPORT OF TREES BLOCKING A ROADWAY NEAR BRANCHVILLE. NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN BARNWELL COUNTY AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE COMPLEX. NEAR THE TOWN OF BARNWELL...PEA SIZE HAIL ALONG WITH A COUPLE OF DOWNED TREES WERE REPORTED. HIGHEST TEMPERATURES AT EACH STATION FOR THE MONTH: COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT............95 DEGREES ON THE 4TH HAMILTON-OWENS AIRPORT............94 DEGREES ON THE 1ST...2ND AND 12TH AUGUSTA REGIONAL BUSH FIELD.......94 DEGREES ON THE 4TH AND 5TH ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT.........93 DEGREES ON THE 4TH DANIEL FIELD AUGUSTA..............92 DEGREES ON THE 1ST...4TH AND 9TH LOWEST TEMPERATURES AT EACH STATION FOR THE MONTH: AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD................51 DEGREES ON THE 30TH COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT............54 DEGREES ON THE 30TH ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT.........54 DEGREES ON THE 30TH DANIEL FIELD AUGUSTA..............55 DEGREES ON THE 29TH HAMILTON-OWENS FIELD COLUMBIA.....56 DEGREES ON THE 30TH BELOW ARE THE HIGHEST RECORDED WIND GUSTS DURING THE MONTH: AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD (AGS).................41 MPH ON THE 1ST AUGUSTA DANIEL FIELD (DNL)...............37 MPH ON THE 9TH HAMILTON OWENS FIELD COLUMBIA (CUB)......36 MPH ON THE 29TH COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT (CAE).............32 MPH ON THE 29TH ORANGEBURG COUNTY AIRPORT (OGB)..........24 MPH ON THE 13TH AND 15TH RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH AT COLUMBIA: THERE WERE NO RECORDS EITHER TIED OR BROKEN. RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH AT AUGUSTA: THERE WERE NO RECORDS EITHER TIED OR BROKEN. YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS... COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2012 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE JAN 2012 61.8/+5.8 36.9/+3.2 49.4 44.8 +4.6 FEB 64.1/+3.8 40.3/+3.5 52.2 48.5 +3.7 MAR 77.7/+9.5 53.2/+10.2 65.4 55.6 +9.8 APR 79.3/+3.0 54.7/+4.3 67.0 63.4 +3.6 MAY 85.8/+2.0 64.9/+5.4 75.4 71.7 +3.7 JUN 88.4/-1.6 66.6/-1.6 77.5 79.1 -1.6 JUL 95.8/+3.1 74.2/+2.6 85.0 82.2 +2.8 AUG 89.5/-1.2 71.3/+0.3 80.4 80.8 -0.4 SEP 85.9/+0.7 65.1/+0.9 75.5 74.7 +0.8 OCT 76.6/+0.5 53.4/+1.3 65.0 64.1 +0.9 NOV 65.5/-1.8 42.3/-3.9 52.0 54.8 -2.8 DEC 63.2/+5.0 41.9/+6.6 52.5 46.7 +5.8 2012 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 66.5 63.9 +2.4 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 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2012 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE JAN 2012 63.4/+5.5 34.3/+1.5 48.8 45.4 +3.4 FEB 65.6/+3.3 39.1/+3.2 52.4 49.1 +3.3 MAR 77.0/+7.1 51.0/+9.0 64.0 55.9 +8.1 APR 79.4/+2.0 51.3/+3.2 65.4 62.7 +2.7 MAY 86.0/+1.0 61.6/+4.3 73.8 71.1 +2.7 JUN 87.6/-3.4 61.8/-4.4 74.7 78.6 -3.9 JUL 96.0/+2.6 71.5/+1.7 83.7 81.6 +2.1 AUG 88.6/-3.2 69.0/-0.3 78.8 80.5 -1.7 SEP 85.4/-1.3 62.2/-0.4 73.8 74.9 -0.8 OCT 77.4/-0.3 52.0/+1.0 64.7 64.4 +0.3 NOV 65.7/-3.4 41.4/-5.3 50.9 55.2 -4.3 DEC 62.7/+2.7 39.3/+4.8 51.0 47.2 +3.8 2012 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE 65.2 63.9 +1.3 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 COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2012 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE (INCHES) JAN 2012 1.76 3.58 -1.82 FEB 2.46 3.61 -1.15 MAR 2.21 3.73 -1.52 APR 2.28 2.62 -0.34 MAY 4.71 2.97 +1.74 JUN 4.18 4.69 -0.51 JUL 6.96 5.46 +1.50 AUG 9.81 5.26 +4.55 SEP 1.84 3.54 -1.70 OCT 1.42 3.17 -1.75 NOV 1.62 2.74 -1.12 DEC 3.51 3.22 +0.29 2012 TOTAL 42.76 44.59 -1.83 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 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2012 MONTHLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL DEPARTURE (INCHES) JAN 2012 1.40 3.91 -2.51 FEB 1.12 3.92 -2.80 MAR 2.28 4.18 -1.90 APR 1.45 2.84 -1.39 MAY 4.56 2.65 +1.91 JUN 2.48 4.72 -2.24 JUL 1.54 4.33 -2.79 AUG 12.28 4.32 +7.96 SEP 1.84 3.22 -1.38 OCT 1.36 3.27 -1.91 NOV 1.10 2.82 -1.72 DEC 4.67 3.39 +1.28 2012 TOTAL 36.08 43.57 -7.49 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 THE OUTLOOK FOR OCTOBER... THE FORECAST CALLS FOR EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION FOR OCTOBER. THIS MEANS THERE IS NO CLEAR CLIMATE SIGNAL THAT TEMPERATURES OR PRECIPITATION WILL BE ABOVE...BELOW OR NEAR NORMAL. THE 3 MONTH OUTLOOK FOR THE FALL/EARLY WINTER (OCT/NOV/DEC)... THE FORECAST CALLS FOR EQUAL CHANCES OF ABOVE...BELOW OR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND PRECIPITATION FOR THE THREE MONTH PERIOD. THIS MEANS THERE IS NO CLEAR CLIMATE SIGNAL THAT TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE...BELOW OR NEAR NORMAL. ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)... ENSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS CONTINUE ACROSS THE EQUATORIAL PACIFIC OCEAN. MOST COMPUTER MODELS FAVOR ENSO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE THROUGH THE SPRING OF 2014. NOTE... MUCH APPRECIATION GOES OUT TO OUR NWS COOPERATIVE WEATHER OBSERVERS...COCORAHS (COMMUNITY...COLLABORATIVE...RAIN...HAIL AND SNOW NETWORK) OBSERVERS...SOUTHEAST REGIONAL CLIMATE CENTER AND LOCAL WEATHER PARTNERS FOR THE DATA THEY PROVIDE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THEIR HARD WORK AND DEDICATION IS INVALUABLE. 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