Public Information Statement National Weather Service Columbia SC 450 PM Tue Jun 01 2021 ...Climate Summary for May 2021 for the Midlands of SC and Central Savannah River Area of GA... ...Temperatures Below Normal... ...Precipitation Below Normal... *New climatological normals were released this month. Please see note below. .Columbia SC Average Temperatures... The average temperature at Columbia Metropolitan Airport for May 2021 was 70.3 degrees or 1.9 degrees below the monthly normal of 72.2 degrees. .Augusta GA Average Temperatures... The average temperature at Augusta Regional Bush Field for May 2021 was 70.5 degrees or 2.2 degrees below the monthly normal of 72.7 degrees. .Columbia Rainfall... Columbia Metro Airport received 2.64 inches of rainfall during May, 0.85 inches below the monthly normal of 3.49 inches. .Augusta Rainfall... Augusta Bush Field received 2.49 inches of rainfall during May, 0.56 inches below the normal monthly value of 3.05 inches. YEAR TO DATE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION STATISTICS... COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2021 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL*... AVG HIGH/DEP AVG LOW/DEP AVG TEMP NORM DEPARTURE Jan 2021 55.5/-1.3 35.8/+1.2 45.6 45.7 -0.1 Feb 58.7/-2.1 38.2/+0.9 48.4 49.1 -0.7 Mar 70.5/+2.2 46.5/+2.9 58.5 55.9 +2.6 Apr 77.2/+0.5 49.6/-1.9 63.4 64.1 -0.7 May 83.5/-0.3 57.0/-3.5 70.3 72.2 -1.9 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2021 MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES AND DEPARTURES FROM NORMAL*... Jan 2021 59.5/-0.1 36.8/+1.5 48.2 47.4 +0.8 Feb 63.1/-0.4 39.1/+1.0 51.1 50.8 +0.3 Mar 74.3/+3.3 47.0/+2.9 60.6 57.5 +3.1 Apr 79.2/+0.7 47.8/-2.8 63.5 64.6 -1.1 May 85.5/-0.4 55.5/-4.1 70.5 72.7 -2.2 COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT 2021 MONTHLY/YEARLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL* DEPARTURE* (INCHES) Jan 2021 5.32 3.49 +1.83 Feb 6.39 3.39 +3.00 Mar 3.43 3.57 -0.14 Apr 0.80 2.83 -2.03 May 2.64 3.49 -0.85 YTD Total 18.58 16.77 +1.81 AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD 2021 MONTHLY/YEARLY PRECIPITATION... TOTAL NORMAL* DEPARTURE* (INCHES) Jan 2021 4.87 3.84 +1.03 Feb 6.59 3.67 +2.92 Mar 4.70 4.08 +0.62 Apr 1.57 2.92 -1.35 May 2.49 3.05 -0.56 YTD Total 20.22 17.56 +2.66 Temperature/Precipitation Records Tied or Broken during the month of May: Augusta...A daily record low temperature of 44 was tied on May 15th. Columbia...None. Here are some of the highest monthly rainfall totals for May 2021: Blythewood 1 W (CoCoRaHS).......5.60 inches Blythewood 3.8 ENE (CoCoRaHS)...5.57 in. Blythewood 5.8 W (CoCoRaHS).....4.61 in. Longtown (NWS COOP).............4.50 in. Here are some of the lowest monthly rainfall totals for May 2021: Orangeburg 3.2 NW (CoCoRaHS)...1.43 inches North 4.3 ESE (CoCoRaHS).......1.47 in. Pageland 9 WNW (CoCoRaHS)......1.60 in. Swansea 3.5 NE (NWS COOP)......1.69 in. Lancaster 0.4 WSW (CoCoRaHS)...1.76 in. Fort Mill 3.5 ENE (CoCoRaHS)...1.76 in. Significant Weather Events for May 2021... Severe Weather May 3rd... Severe thunderstorms downed numerous trees in Newberry Co SC, in the city of Lexington, SC and vicinity, and in Sumter Co SC. Large hail, up to golf ball to ping pong ball size, fell in Saluda, SC Red Bank, SC and in SE Lee Co SC. Severe Weather May 4th... A band of strong thunderstorms, some severe, took down numerous trees, mainly in a swath from the Chapin, SC area ENE across N Richland Co SC, and across Kershaw and Chesterfield Counties in SC. A tornado touched down in Fairfield Co SC, SW of Winnsboro, and moved across the Fairfield Co Airport, damaging some planes, and taking down numerous trees near the airport. Severe Weather May 11th... An isolated severe thunderstorms moved south across the Santee, Vance, and Eutawville SC vicinities. Strong downburst winds took down numerous trees, caused roof damage to a home, and produced golf ball sized hail. Hydrology/River Stages... No river flooding occurred at any river flood or forecast point. Lake Murray Water Temperatures (near surface) at the intake towers for May: Warmest...81.9 F on the 28th. Coolest...64.0 F on the 12th. The 3-Month Outlook for Summer ...(June/July/August)... The outlook calls for a greater than 50 percent chance of above normal temperatures with a greater than 33 percent chance of above normal precipitation. ENSO (EL NINO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION)... La Nina conditions have ended. ENSO neutral conditions are currently present and are expected to remain neutral through the Summer. Climate Outlooks and ENSO Discussions courtesy of NOAA Climate Prediction Center...www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov . *Please note: new climatological normals were released in May 2021, providing new daily/monthly/annual normals for temperature and precipitation. The precipitation normals and departures for previous months this year have been adjusted in this product to reflect the new monthly normals. The values in this product for previous months in this calendar year may not be consistent with the values that were released in previous monthly climate statements before we had the new set of normals. 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 . $$ DCM