Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Columbia SC
939 AM EDT Tue Mar 19 2019

...February 2019 Climate Summary...

...Much Above Normal Temperatures for the month...
...Below Normal Precipitation for the month...
...Minor River Flooding During the month...
...Severe Weather Season Arrived with an EF1 Tornado near Bowman, SC...


The trend of above normal temperatures continued into February across
the Midlands and the Central Savannah River Area. Additionally, it was
dry across much of the region during the month of February. The only
areas to see near normal rainfall were across the Upstate and Piedmont
of the state. With the above normal temperatures and drier than normal
conditions, the area was spared any winter weather through the month.

It was the 7th driest February on record at Columbia where less than
one inch of rain fell.

Here are the top 10 driest February months on record:

1. 0.34 inches in 1962
2. 0.49 inches in 1938
3. 0.60 inches in 1898
4. 0.65 inches in 1930
5. 0.77 inches in 1947
6. 0.87 inches in 1976
7. 0.88 inches in 2019
8. 0.90 inches in 1943
9. 0.94 inches in 1911
10.1.08 inches in 1925


.Augusta Average Temperatures...

The average temperature at Augusta Regional Bush Field for February was
55.8 degrees or 6.7 degrees above the normal of 49.1 degrees.

.Columbia Average Temperatures...

The average temperature at Columbia Metro Airport for February was 53.0
degrees or 4.7 degrees above the normal of 48.5 degrees.

.Augusta Rainfall...

Augusta Bush Field received 1.14 inches of rainfall during February,
2.78 inches below the normal of 3.92 inches.

.Columbia Rainfall...

Columbia Metro Airport received 0.88 inches of rainfall during
February, 2.73 inches below the normal of 3.61 inches.

Here are some of the highest official NWS Coop Observer monthly
rainfall totals for February 2019:

LKRS1 Lancaster...............4.09 inches
CTFS1 Chesterfield............2.68 inches
CEWS1 Cheraw Water Plant......2.38 inches
MCCS1 McCormick...............2.22 inches
PASS1 Fairfield Pump Storage..2.05 inches

Here are some of the highest unofficial CoCoRaHS monthly rainfall
totals for February 2019:

SC-LN-2  Fort Mill 3.5 ENE...5.30 inches
SC-LN-4  Lancaster 2.0 NNW...4.15 inches
SC-CF-5  Pageland 9.0 WNW....4.11 inches
SC-FR-7  Winnsboro 8.0 S.....4.11 inches
SC-RC-30 Hopkins 3.9 NNE.....3.18 inches

GA-LC-2  Tignall 10.2 NE.....2.57 inches
GA-MD-1  Thomson 2.5 S.......1.98 inches
GA-CU-9  Appling 2.0 E.......1.96 inches
GA-RC-9  W. Augusta 0.9 NW...1.69 inches
GA-BK-1  Waynesboro 3.3 SW...1.34 inches


Highest Wind Gusts at ASOS Sites during February:

Augusta Bush Field (AGS)..............56 mph on the 12th
Columbia Metro Airport (CAE)..........55 mph on the 12th
Orangeburg County Airport (OGB).......43 mph on the 12th
Columbia Hamilton Owens Field (CUB)...39 mph on the 12th
Augusta Daniel Field (DNL)............38 mph on the 12th


Highest Wind Gusts on the area lakes during February:

Lake Murray Flotilla Island (LMFS1)...54 mph on the 12th
Lake Murray Towers USGS (IRMS1).......50 mph on the 12th
Lake Wateree Dam (WATS1)..............38 mph on the 12th and 24th
Lake Thurmond Dam (CHDS1).............38 mph on the 28th


Lake Murray Top Water Temperatures at The Towers for February:

Warmest...58.1F on the 8th.
Coolest...49.6F on the 11th.


TEMPERATURE/PRECIPITATION RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH OF
February:

Augusta...
5th...The temperature at Augusta Bush Field reached 81
degrees. This tied the record of 81 degrees for this date set back in
2008.

6th...The temperature at Augusta Bush Field reached 80
degrees. This tied the record of 80 degrees for this date set back in
1927.

7th...The temperature at Augusta Bush Field reached 85
degrees. This breaks the old record for this date of 80 degrees set in
2017.

12th...The temperature Augusta Bush Field reached 82 degrees.
This breaks the old record for this date of 79 degrees set in 2017


COLUMBIA...
7th...The temperature at Columbia Metro Airport reached 83
degrees. This breaks the old record of 80 degrees for this date set in
1999.

8th...The temperature at Columbia Metro Airport reached 77
degrees. This breaks the old record of 76 degrees for this date set in
1965.

12th...The temperature at Columbia Metro Airport reached 81
degrees 81 degrees. This breaks the old record of 79 degrees for this
date set in 2017.




Events for February 2019...

12th...A strong cold front approached the region from the west, then
passing across the region during the afternoon. A line of showers and
strong thunderstorms developed ahead of the cold front. An EF1 tornado
developed along the line in Orangeburg County near the town of Bowman.
Additionally, strong winds developed ahead and behind the cold front
as it moved across the region. Wind speed topped out above 50 mph in
several locations during the afternoon of the 12th.

Here is the NWS damage survey for the tornado event.

.Weak EF1 Tornado south of Bowman along Rigby Road.

Start Location...7 S Bowman in Orangeburg County SC
End Location...7 S Bowman in Orangeburg County SC
Date...02/12/2019
Estimated Time...06:48 PM EST
Maximum EF-Scale Rating...EF1
Estimated Maximum Wind Speed...95 mph
Maximum Path Width...125.0 yards
Path Length...0.61 miles
Beginning Lat/Lon...33.2551 / -80.6976
Ending Lat/Lon...33.2554 / -80.687
* Fatalities...0
* Injuries...0

...Summary...
A weak EF-1 Tornado touched down in Orangeburg County
approximately 6.6 miles south of the Town of Bowman. The tornado
initially touched down near the intersection of Flatwoods Road
and Rigby Road. The tornado continued to move along Rigby Road
for just over one half mile. The tornado dissipated well before
reaching Reevesville Road. The tornado damaged several dozen trees
along the path. Many of the trees were either uprooted, snapped
or had damage to several limbs. The trees were a combination of
hardwood and softwood trees. There were three structures that
were damaged. All of the structure were along Rigby Road, near
the intersection of Flatwoods Road. The top of a snapped off pine
tree landed on a well built brick home. An elderly lady was in
the home at the time, but was uninjured. The tree damaged a small
portion of the roof. A single wide manufactured home had some
damage to the shingles on the roof on the west end of the
structure. An old wooden barn had a partially collapsed roof with
sheet of tin near the property. Another wooden building suffered
damage to the tin roof. The tin blew eastward and was caught in
the nearby trees. The strong winds and trees downed a power line
along Rigby Road that had to be replaced.


Here are some of the highest wind gusts recorded during the afternoon
and evening hours of the 12th.

Location                     Speed      Provider

Williams Brice Stadium Top   59 MPH     RCWINDS
Augusta Bush Field           56 MPH     ASOS
Columbia Metro Airport       54 MPH     ASOS
Lk Murray Flotilla Island    54 MPH     MARITIME
Lake Murray Towers           50 MPH     USGS
Broad River-St Andrews       50 MPH     RCWINDS
8 SE New Ellenton            49 MPH     RAWS
2 NW Elgin                   48 MPH     CWOP
Thomson-Mcduffie County Airp 48 MPH     AWOS
Mcentire Ang                 47 MPH     AWOS
Newberry County Airport      45 MPH     AWOS
2 ESE Springfield            44 MPH     CWOP
Orangeburg Municipal Airport 44 MPH     ASOS
Dutch Fork HS                42 MPH     RCWINDS
Aiken Municipal Airport      41 MPH     AWOS
2 NNW Brookdale              41 MPH     RAWS
Lexington Co Airport-Pelion  41 MPH     RCWINDS
6 SSW Augusta                39 MPH     CWOP
Columbia Hamilton-Owens Airp 39 MPH     ASOS
1 ESE North                  39 MPH     MESOWEST
Thomson-Dudley               39 MPH     PUBLIC
Camden-woodward Field        38 MPH     AWOS
Daniel Field Airport         38 MPH     ASOS
Shaw Afb                     38 MPH     AWOS
Lake Wateree Dam             38 MPH     MARITIME
3 W North Augusta            37 MPH     MESOWEST
Barnwell Regional Airport    36 MPH     AWOS
2 W Clarks Hill              36 MPH     MARITIME
Richland Main Library        36 MPH     RCWINDS
Elders Pond                  36 MPH     RCWINDS
Gilbert-Ambient              35 MPH     PUBLIC
Winnsboro                    35 MPH     AWOS
Lexington Co Admin Bldg      35 MPH     RCWINDS
Fox Knoll Farm Orangeburg    35 MPH     PUBLIC
2 NNW Grovetown              35 MPH     MESOWEST
Cedar Creek-Winnsboro Rd     35 MPH     RCWINDS


21st through the 25th...Heavy rainfall across the mountains and
Piedmont of North Carolina and the Upstate of South Carolina produced
minor flooding along the area rivers. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4
inches were common across that area. At Carolina Eastman along
the Congaree River, the river crested at 117.0 feet on the 22nd.
Flood stage is 115.0 feet. At the Congaree NP-Gadsden along the
Congaree River, the river crested at 16.16 feet on the 22nd. Flood
stage is 15.0 feet. On the Great Pee Dee River at Cheraw the rive
crested at 36.57 feet on the 24th. Flood stage is 30.0 feet. At
the Enoree River at Whitmire the river crested at 25.50 feet on
the 23rd. Flood Stage is 25.0 feet. At Chappells along the Saluda
River, the river crested at 18.76 feet on the 24th. Flood stage is
14.0 feet. The pool height of Lake Wateree crested at 101.74 feet
on the 25th. Full pool for the lake is 100.0 feet/


24th...A strong cold front moved across the region during the
day. The pressure gradient ahead and behind the front produced
wind gusts in excess of 40 mph.

Here are some of the highest wind gusts recorded:

Location                     Speed     Time/Date       Provider

Columbia Metro Airport       41 MPH    0328 PM 02/24   ASOS
Newberry County Airport      40 MPH    1255 PM 02/24   AWOS
Lk Murray Flotilla Island    40 MPH    0300 PM 02/24   MARITIME
Mcentire Ang                 40 MPH    0333 PM 02/24   AWOS
Augusta Bush Field           39 MPH    0303 PM 02/24   ASOS
Aiken Municipal Airport      39 MPH    0235 PM 02/24   AWOS
2 W Clarks Hill              38 MPH    0430 PM 02/24   MARITIME
Orangeburg Municipal Airport 38 MPH    0255 PM 02/24   ASOS
Lake Wateree Dam             38 MPH    0320 PM 02/24   MARITIME
Columbia Hamilton-Owens Airp 37 MPH    0345 PM 02/24   ASOS
Shaw Afb                     37 MPH    0427 PM 02/24   AWOS
6 SSW Augusta                36 MPH    0413 PM 02/24   CWOP
Camden-woodward Field        36 MPH    0255 PM 02/24   AWOS
Lancaster County Airport     36 MPH    0335 PM 02/24   AWOS
Daniel Field Airport         35 MPH    0222 PM 02/24   ASOS
Thomson-Mcduffie County Airp 35 MPH    0150 PM 02/24   AWOS
Winnsboro                    33 MPH    0255 PM 02/24   AWOS
Cheraw Municipal Airport     32 MPH    0235 PM 02/24   AWOS
2 NNW Grovetown              32 MPH    0100 PM 02/24   MESOWEST
3 SW Irmo                    32 MPH    0200 PM 02/24   GOES
1 E Murphys Estates          30 MPH    0255 PM 02/24   CWOP
Santee Cooper Region Arpt    30 MPH    0355 PM 02/24   AWOS




YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS...

COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2018/2019 MONTHLY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL...

         AVG HIGH/DEP   AVG LOW/DEP   AVG TEMP    NORM  DEPARTURE
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
MAR       65.8/-2.4      42.5/-0.5      54.2      55.6    -1.4
APR       75.1/-1.2      49.4/-1.0      62.3      63.4    -1.1
MAY       87.3/+1.4      66.5/+7.0      76.9      71.7    +5.2
JUN       93.8/+3.8      71.7/+3.5      82.8      79.1    +3.7
JUL       93.5/+0.8      73.5/+1.9      83.5      82.2    +1.3
AUG       92.9/+2.2      72.7/+1.7      82.8      80.8    +2.0
SEP       91.2/+6.0      72.6/+8.4      81.9      74.7    +7.2
OCT       79.6/+3.5      57.5/+5.4      68.5      64.1    +4.4
NOV       62.3/-5.0      43.2/+0.9      52.8      54.8    -2.0
DEC       58.5/+0.3      39.2/+3.9      48.8      46.7    +2.1
Annual    77.1/+1.6      55.7/+3.3      66.4      63.9    +2.5

JAN 2019  57.7/+1.7      36.3/+2.6      47.0      44.8    +2.2
FEB       65.1/+4.8      41.2/+4.4      53.2      48.5    +4.7


AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2018/2019 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL...

         AVG HIGH/DEP   AVG LOW/DEP   AVG TEMP    NORM  DEPARTURE
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
MAR       67.7/-2.2      41.2/-1.4     54.5       55.9    -1.4
APR       75.1/-2.2      46.1/-2.0     60.6       62.7    -2.1
MAY       86.4/+1.4      61.5/+4.2     74.0       71.1    +2.9
JUN       92.2/+1.2      68.7/+2.5     80.5       78.6    +1.9
JUL       91.2/-2.2      70.9/+1.1     81.0       81.6    -0.6
AUG       92.4/+0.6      70.4/+1.1     81.4       80.5    +0.9
SEP       92.4/+5.7      70.4/+7.8     81.4       74.6    +6.8
OCT       80.6/+2.9      56.7/+4.3     68.7       64.4    +4.3
NOV       64.3/-4.8      43.3/+1.9     53.8       55.2    -1.4
DEC       61.1/+1.1      40.5/+6.0     50.8       47.2    +3.6
Annual    77.7/+0.8      53.9/+2.9     65.8       63.9    +1.9

JAN 2019  60.7/+2.8      37.4/+4.6     49.1       45.4    +3.7
FEB       68.4/+6.1      43.2/+7.3     55.8       49.1    +6.7


COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2018/2019 MONTHLY/YEARLY
PRECIPITATION...

               TOTAL   NORMAL   DEPARTURE
              (INCHES)
JAN 2018       2.42     3.58    -1.16
FEB            1.61     3.61    -2.00
MAR            2.97     3.73    -0.76
APR            3.10     2.62    +0.48
MAY            2.76     2.97    -0.21
JUN            3.45     4.69    -1.24
JUL            3.68     5.46    -1.78
AUG            3.25     5.26    -2.01
SEP            6.09     3.54    +2.55
OCT            6.36     3.17    +3.22
NOV            6.55     2.74    +3.81
DEC            7.25     3.22    +4.03
Annual        49.52    44.59    +4.93

JAN 2019       3.07     3.58    -0.57
FEB            0.88     3.61    -2.73

AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2018/2019 MONTHLY/YEARLY PRECIPITATION...

               TOTAL   NORMAL   DEPARTURE
              (INCHES)
JAN 2018       2.09     3.91     -1.82
FEB            1.57     3.92     -2.35
MAR            3.21     4.18     -0.97
APR            3.47     2.84     +0.63
MAY            8.21     2.65     +5.56
JUN            5.19     4.72     +0.47
JUL            3.13     4.33     -1.20
AUG            4.28     4.32     -0.04
SEP            7.19     3.22     +3.97
OCT            4.58     3.27     +1.31
NOV            5.98     2.82     +3.16
DEC            5.94     3.39     +2.55
Annual        54.84    43.57    +11.27

Jan 2019       4.40     3.91     +0.49
FEB            1.14     3.92     -2.78

The 3-Month Outlook for Spring
(March/April/May)...

The outlook calls for a 33 to 40 percent chance of above normal
temperatures along with a 40 percent chance of above 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)...
...El Nino Advisory...

El Nino conditions developed across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during
the middle of February. There is an 80 percent chance that weak El Nino
conditions will likely continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring.
There is a 60 percent chance of weak El Nino conditions continuing into
the summer.

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 .

$$

LCV