Columbia, SC

Weather Forecast Office

Historic Rainfall and Flooding October 2015

...October 1st-5th Historic Rainfall and Flooding...

Retrospective Story Map of Historic Rainfall and Flooding October 1st-5th 2015

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Event Synopsis

Event Synopsis...

A cold front came through late night Wed Sep 30th and stalled near the coast for several days due to an upper level flow that paralled the surface front. An upper level trough closed off and remained nearly stationary to our west for several days. A surface area of low pressure developed along the front near the coast or just offshore, while a strong area of surface high pressure built into eastern Canada. This resulted in a strong low level flow off the Atlantic. This flow pattern brought a long, deep fetch of moisture northwestward towards the Carolinas from Hurricane Joaquin.

The combination of upper divergence and lift east of the closed low, and a strong persistent low level flow off the Atlantic and associated low level moisture convergence and isentropic lift, along with a plume of tropical moisture getting entrained into the system, provided a band of heavy rain showers and a few thunderstorms that at times trained over the same areas and persisted for many hours.

The heaviest rain occurred from the Columbia vicinity, southeastward across lower Richland Co, Sumter Co, Calhoun Co, Clarendon Co and lower Orangeburg Co. The heaviest rainfall occurred late Saturday night Oct 3rd into the morning hours of Sunday Oct 4th. At times, rainfall rates of 2” inches per hour affected those locations for several hours. This heavy and persistant rainfall occurred over urban areas where runoff rates were high, and over grounds already wet from recent rains. This heavy rainfall caused numerous roadway and bridge closings due to dam failures, along with culvert and pipe washouts across the region. Numerous life saving swift water rescues were performed..

In general, a significant gradient in rainfall amounts occurred in our CWA, with 1-2 inches west of the Savannah River, 2-4 inches just on the east side of the Savannah River, with amounts ramping up to around 10 inches eastward into West Central Midlands, with 10-20 inches from Columbia SE across the Eastern Midlands. The NWS had been advertising this very heavy rainfall and flooding potential well in advance of the event.

During this event, Columbia Metro Airport set a new record for both the greatest one and two day rainfall totals.

Columbia Metro Airport Rainfall Record

Greatest 1-day rainfall…. 6.71 inches set on October 4, 2015
Old 1-day rainfall record….. 5.79 inches set on July 9, 1959

Greatest 2-day rainfall….. 10.28 inches set on October 3-4, 2015
Old 2-day rainfall record….. 7.69 inches set on August 16-17, 1949

Please note, some images below are rather large and may take a while to load on a slow connection.

Below is a map showing Rainfall Totals through the Evening of October 4th. Just below the image is the latest updated Public Information Statement detailing location amounts.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
815 PM EDT TUE OCT 6 2015

...UPDATED...

...EVENT TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS...

RAIN FOR THIS EVENT GENERALLY BEGAN FRIDAY OCT 2ND. MOST OF THE
HEAVIEST AMOUNTS LISTED BELOW FELL SAT NIGHT OCT 3RD THROUGH SUNDAY
MORNING OCT 4TH. ONLY LIGHT ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS FELL IN SOME AREAS
SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY OCT 5TH. NO SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL
RAIN OBSERVED TUE OCT 6TH.

THIS LIST HAS BEEN QUALITY CONTROLLED AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE AND
GENERALLY RESTRICTED TO OFFICIAL AND OTHER RELIABLE RESOURCES. SOME
OF THESE STATIONS MAY HAVE RECEIVED SOME RELATIVELY LIGHT ADDITIONAL
AMOUNTS THAT ARE NOT REFLECTED IN THE TOTAL AMOUNTS. MANY OF THESE
ARE CONSIDERED PRELIMINARY NUMBERS. FOR BREVITY...ONLY THE HIGHEST
COCORAHS REPORTS WERE INCLUDED...AND ONLY REPORTS OF 5 INCHES OR
HIGHER ARE INCLUDED IN THIS LIST.

MUCH APPRECIATION IS EXTENDED TO RICHLAND COUNTY SC RCWINDS NETWORK...
NWS COOP OBSERVERS...COCORAHS OBSERVERS...USGS AND RAWS GAGES...AND
OTHERS.

LOCATION COUNTY/STATE AMOUNT (IN.)

GILLS CREEK RCWINDS - COLUMBIA   RICHLAND CO SC     21.49
PUBLIC REPORT - MILLWOOD         SUMTER SC SC       20.75
SUMTER 0.3NNE COCORAHS           SUMTER CO SC       20.77
SUMTER 1.3SE COCORAHS            SUMTER CO SC       20.61
WATEREE RCWINDS                  RICHLAND CO SC     20.36
HOLLY HILL 0.4N COCORAHS         ORANGEBURG CO SC   20.28
SHAW AFB - SUMTER ASOS           SUMTER CO SC       19.81
MANNING 8.2S COCORAHS            CLARENDON CO SC    19.25
SUMMERTON 5.2SSE COCORAHS        CLARENDON CO SC    19.19
LEESBURG HWY 601 RCWINDS         RICHLAND CO SC     18.36
EASTOVER RCWINDS                 RICHLAND CO SC     18.35
SPRING VALLEY RCWINDS - COLUMBIA RICHLAND CO SC     17.91
FORT JACKSON RCWINDS             RICHLAND CO SC     17.71
WEIR TOWER - FT JACKSON RAWS     RICHLAND CO SC     17.30
CHAPIN 1.4S COCRAHS              LEXINGTON CO SC    17.21
CHESTNUT OAKS MS WEATHERBUG      SUMTER CO SC       17.14
MLK PARK RCWINDS - COLUMBIA      RICHLAND CO SC     16.82
SANTEE NWR RAWS                  CLARENDON CO SC    16.74
HOLLY HILL COOP                  ORANGEBURG CO SC   16.61
SANTEE 2NE COCORAHS              ORANGEBURG CO SC   16.50
WEDGEFIELD FD WEATHERBUG         SUMTER CO SC       16.26
HOPKINS 3.9NNE COCORAHS          RICHLAND CO SC     15.89
COLUMBIA 6.7N COCORAHS           RICHLAND CO SC     15.71
MCGRADY FT JACKSON RAWS          RICHLAND CO SC     15.71
SANDHILL EXP COOP                RICHLAND CO SC     14.95
SUMTER EMA WEATHERBUG            SUMTER CO SC       14.88
LONGTOWN COOP                    FAIRFIELD CO SC    14.15
CEDAR CREEK COOP                 RICHLAND CO SC     13.39
UNIV OF SC COOP - COLUMBIA       RICHLAND CO SC     12.97
LITTLE MOUNTAIN COOP             NEWBERRY CO SC     12.76
MANNING COOP                     CLARENDON CO SC    12.70
LUGOFF COOP                      KERSHAW CO SC      12.48
HAMILTON OWENS APT - COLUMBIA    RICHLAND CO SC     12.42
CONGAREE NP RAWS                 RICHLAND CO SC     12.41
UNIV OF SC T. BUCKET - COLUMBIA RICHLAND CO SC     12.37
LAKE MURRAY DAM USGS             LEXINGTON CO SC    11.60
COLUMBIA METRO APT ASOS          LEXINGTON CO SC    11.44*
BISHOPVILLE COOP                 LEE CO SC          11.35
ORANGEBURG COOP                  ORANGEBURG CO SC   11.29
MCTIER CREEK USGS - MONETTA      AIKEN CO SC        10.72
ORANGEBURG APT ASOS              ORANGEBURG CO SC   10.59
NEWBERRY COOP                    NEWBERRY CO SC      9.92
NEWBERRY USGS                    NEWBERRY CO SC      9.83
CHESTERFIELD COOP                CHESTERFIELD CO SC 9.23
SALUDA USGS                      SALUDA CO SC        9.23
BARNWELL COOP                    BARNWELL CO SC      8.80
WATEREE DAM COOP                 KERSHAW CO SC       8.62
BATESBURG COOP                   LEXINGTON CO SC     8.60
BAMBERG COOP                     BAMBERG CO SC       8.45
S. FORK EDISTO R USGS DENMARK    BAMBERG CO SC       7.71
BLACK CREEK CHESTERFIELD USGS    CHESTERFIELD CO SC 6.59
MCBEE USGS                       CHESTERFIELD CO SC 6.31
LITTLE R. USGS MT CARMEL         MCCORMICK CO SC     5.47
PAGELAND USGS                    CHESTERFIELD CO SC 5.45

* COLUMBIA ESTABLISHED A NEW ALL TIME ONE DAY...TWO DAY...AND
THREE DAY RECORD RAINFALL AMOUNTS.

OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING
EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE. NOT ALL DATA LISTED ARE CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.

Next, click on the following image to show a loop of the Flooding that occurred during the morning hours of Oct 4th at the intersection of Whaley and Main in Columbia, SC

Below is an image linking to the earth Observatory site by Nasa. This page shows some before and after satellite images of Columbia, SC.

Radar Loop beginning on Oct 1st and ending on Oct 5th. This video loop is courtesy of a Facebook posting by Shea Gibson at Weatherflow.

One of our partners, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), has Numerous Flooding and Damage Images from across the state on their website. A direct link to their South Carolina Severe Flooding 2015 page can be found here. They also have some great before and after images, which can be found here.

Finally, here are some other Photos of Flooding from across the Region. (click for a larger image)


Barr Lake in Lexington - Courtesy NWS CAE	Gibson Pond in Lexington - Photographer Unknown.	Gibson Pond in Lexington - Courtesy NWS CAE
Gibson Pond in Lexington - Courtesy NWS CAE	Old Mill Dam in Lexington - Courtesy The State Paper	Old Mill Dam in Lexington - Courtesy NWS CAE
Old Mill Dam in Lexington - Courtesy NWS CAE	Lake Marion Water Release	Lake Murray Spillway - Courtesty Ebben M Aley
Lake Murray Spillway - Courtesy Ebben M Aley	Lake Murray Spillway - Courtesy Ebben M Aley	Roadway Washouts
Road Way Washout - Wise Ferry Rd in Lexington	Richland County Flyover with Governor Nikki Haley - The State Paper	Richland County Flyover with Governor Nikki Haley - The State Paper
Richland County Flyover with Governor Nikki Haley - The State Paper	Glen Haven Dr - Courtesy Washington Post	Lamp Post - Columbia, SC