Public Information Statement
National Weather Service
1237 PM Fri June 9 2017
...Climate Summary for May 2017...
...5 Tornadoes Touched Down in May...
...Minor River Flooding Occurred at 3 Forecast Points...
...Flash Flood Event along Rocky Branch Creek on the 22nd...
...5th Wettest May on Record at Columbia...
May, much like April, was another active month for severe weather.
Multiple severe weather events occurred during the month. These
events produced 5 tornadoes...reports of hail up to baseball
size...strong damaging winds...flash flooding along with minor river
flooding. Temperatures for the month were just a little above
average, however rainfall trended above normal for most locations.
It was the 5th wettest May on record at Columbia.
...Augusta Average Temperatures...
The average temperature at Augusta Regional Bush Field for May was
74.1 degrees or 3.0 degrees above the normal of 71.1
...Columbia Average Temperatures...
The average temperature at Columbia Metro Airport for May was
73.6 degrees or 1.9 degrees above the normal of 71.7.
...Augusta Rainfall...
Augusta Bush Field received 3.34 inches of rainfall during
May. Normal is 2.65 inches.
...Columbia Rainfall...
Columbia Metro Airport received 7.15 inches of rainfall during
May. Normal is 2.97 inches
Here are some of the highest rainfall CoCoRaHS Reports for May:
SC-SL-6 Saluda 3.5 ENE..........9.28 inches
SC-RC-6 Blythewood 4.7 SSE......8.50 inches
SC-LX-35 Lexington 2.9 NE........8.28 inches
SC-LX-70 Chapin 4.8 SSW..........7.65 inches
GA-MD-1 Thomson 2.5 S...........7.66 inches
GA-MD-5 Thomson 2.6 S...........6.82 inches
Here are some of the highest NWS Coop Observer Reports for May:
PLNS1 Pelion 4 N..................7.71 inches
LIMS1 Little Mountain.............7.29 inches
CTFS1 Chesterfield 3 E............7.07 inches
USCS1 Univ. of South Carolina.....6.95 inches
HHLS1 Holly Hill..................6.54 inches
Highest Wind Gusts at ASOS Sites during May:
Columbia Metro Airport (CAE)..........60 mph on the 29th
Columbia Hamilton Owens Field (CUB)...47 mph on the 29th
Orangeburg County Airport (OGB).......40 mph on the 24th
Augusta Daniel Field (DNL)............40 mph on the 24th
Augusta Bush Field (AGS)..............40 mph on the 24th
Highest Wind Gusts on the area lakes during May:
Lake Thurmond Dam (CHDS1).............47 mph on the 29th
Lake Murray Flotilla Island (LMFS1)...38 mph on the 21st
Lake Murray Towers (IRMS1/USGS).......35 mph on the 28th
Lake Wateree (WATS1)..................32 mph on the 25th and 28th
Highest Wind Gusts at RCWINDS Mesonet Sites for May:
Lake Murray Dam.......................60 mph on the 28th
Pineview-Garners Ferry................49 mph on the 29th
Williams Brice Stadium................49 mph on the 22nd
Irmo Fire District....................42 mph on the 28th
Broad River-St. Andrews...............41 mph on the 28th
Lake Murray Water Temperatures at The Towers:
Warmest...79.4 degrees on May 31st
Coolest...68.2 degrees on May 7th
TEMPERATURE RECORDS TIED OR BROKEN DURING THE MONTH OF
April:
None
COLUMBIA...
May 20th...minimum temperature was 70 degrees. Broke the record
of 71 set in 1997.
Events for May 2017...
May 4th...A deep upper level area of low pressure over the Southeast
and associated cold front produced severe thunderstorms. The severe
storms produced 2 tornadoes along with downed trees.
A tornado touched down on White Sands Road about 3 miles SSW of
Holly Hill, South Carolina in Orangeburg County. The tornado
traveled NE snapping hardwood and pine trees. Two trees fell on a
mobile home located on Cocoa Circle about 2 miles SSW of Holly Hill.
The two people in the mobile home at the time, a mother and her
daughter, sought shelter in a room located near the end of the
mobile home and were not injured. The local fire department rescued
the two residents that evening. In the same area a tree fell onto
three vehicles located on Caufield Court. Damage patterns showed a
cross wind component typical of tornadic storms. The tornado
continued NE into the town limits of Holly Hill where it ripped the
metal roof off of a section of a strip mall at the intersection of
Old State Road and Pine Street. The tornado then lifted at
approximately 906 PM. Damage surveyed was consistent with EF-1
damage with wind speeds no greater than 103 MPH.
The EF-0 tornado touched down near L E Byrd Road and uprooted a few
trees and snapped large limbs. A few farm buildings were destroyed.
A couple of single wide mobile homes experienced roof and skirting
damage. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 0.20 miles
and had a width of 75 yards.
May 22nd...A slow moving frontal boundary across the area along with
a deep upper level area of low pressure produced locally heavy
rainfall and strong damaging winds. Heavy rainfall over downtown
Columbia produced flooding along Rocky Branch Creek. The stream gage
at Whaley Street and Main Street crested at 9.59 feet, flood stage
is 7.2 feet. Rainfall amounts in excess of 2.0 inches fell across
the basin. There were several reports of downed trees in Newberry
County.
May 24th...A slow moving frontal boundary across the area along with
a deep upper level area of low pressure across the Southeast
produced heavy rainfall along with severe thunderstorms. The storms
produced 3 tornadoes...multiple trees down and roadway flooding.
A tornado touched down near Denny Highway in Northern Saluda County,
about 2 miles southwest of the Saluda River. The tornado then
continued northeast across the Saluda River and into Newberry
County, eventually passing about 2 miles south of Prosperity and
dissipating about 3 miles east of Prosperity near Mid Carolina High
School. The tornado had a path length of 12 miles and a maximum
width of 250 yards, producing EF-0 and EF-1 damage along most of its
path. However, there was a small area of EF-2 wind damage with winds
up to 115 mph near Stoney Hill Road and Fire Tower Road, and also
near Macedonia Church Road and Cy Schumpert Road.
Numerous trees were either snapped or uprooted along the damage
path, with several trees down on homes and vehicles. Where the
tornado was strongest, several masonry outbuildings had their walls
blown out. Small outbuildings were moved as much as 20 yards, and a
few very large hardwood trees were splintered with the tops thrown
as much as 30 yards.
A tornado touched down near Fruit Hill Road just north of Highway
378. Then continued northeast crossing Henley Road and Old
Charleston Road. The tornado produced EF-0 and EF-1 damage,
traveling a total of 3 miles before lifting near the intersection of
Old Chappell Ferry Road and Simmons Road. Numerous trees were either
snapped or uprooted along the damage path and sheet metal was lifted
off the roof of a small outbuilding. The strongest wind speeds of up
to 110 mph occurred on Fruit Hill Road where 2 cedar trees were
snapped at the trunks and thrown up to 20 yards.
A tornado touched down northeast of Lancaster close to the North
Carolina State Line near Shiloh Unity Road. The tornado continued
northward causing EF-0 damage to crops and trees near Locker Road.
The tornado was in Lancaster County for 0.5 miles having a path
width of no more than 50 yards. The maximum wind speed during this
time was 75 mph.
May 25th-27th...The heavy rainfall across the Carolinas produced
rapid rises along the area rivers. This produced minor river
flooding at 3 forecast points. The Congaree River at Carolina
Eastman crested at 118.0 feet on the 26th, flood stage is 115.0
feet. The Great Pee Dee River at Cheraw crested at 30.68 feet on the
26th, flood stage is 30.0 feet. The pool height at Lake Wateree rose
to 100.4 feet on the 27th, flood stage for the pool is 100.0 feet.
May 29th-30th...A slow moving cold front produced severe
thunderstorms across the Midlands and Central Savannah River Area.
The storm produced strong damaging winds that downed trees and limbs
across the area. However, large damaging hail was the main threat.
There were several reports of hail from 1 inch up to 2.75 inches,
which is baseball size hail. The large hail fell across McCormick
and Edgefield counties.
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 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
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
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 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
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
COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2015/2016/2017 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
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
AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2015/2016/2017 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
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
THE 3-MONTH OUTLOOK FOR SUMMER (June/July/August)...
THE 3-MONTH OUTLOOK FOR June...July and August calls for a 40 to 50
percent chance of above normal temperatures with a equal chances of
above...below and normal precipitation.
GO TO THE CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER WEB PAGE AT
WWW.CPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV IN LOWER CASE LETTERS FOR MORE DETAILS AND THE
LATEST OUTLOOKS.
ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)...
...ENSO Neutral Conditions Are Present...
Equatorial sea surface temperatures are near to above average across
most of the Pacific Ocean. ENSO Neutral and El Nino are nearly
equally favored during the Northern Hemisphere Summer and Fall 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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