...APRIL 2011 WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE MIDLANDS AND CSRA...
...4RD WARMEST APRIL ON RECORD AT COLUMBIA...
...MULTIPLE SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL...
...ONE OF THE WORST HAIL EVENTS IN RECENT MEMORY ON THE 9TH...
...5 WEAK TORNADOES (EF0-EF1) TOUCHED DOWN ACROSS THE AREA...

IN GENERAL...THE FIRST WEEK OF APRIL BEGAN WITH BELOW NORMAL 
TEMPERATURES...BUT THE REMAINING 3 WEEKS WERE ABOVE TO MUCH ABOVE 
NORMAL. THE BIG STORY FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL WERE THE NUMBER OF 
SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS ACROSS THE AREA. THERE WERE 5 
SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS DURING THE MONTH. 56 SEVERE 
THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS WERE ISSUED AND 6 TORNADO WARNINGS WERE ISSUED 
FOR THE COUNTY WARNING AREA (CWA). NEARLY 130 SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS 
WERE GATHERED DURING THE MONTH. THE NEXT BIG STORY WAS THE WARM 
TEMPERATURES DURING THE MONTH. IT WAS THE 4RD WARMEST APRIL ON 
RECORD AT COLUMBIA...WHERE THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 67.8 DEGREES 
OR 4.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS ONLY FOLLOWED 1893 AND 2002...WHEN THE 
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 69.0 DEGREES AND 1896...WHEN THE AVERAGE 
TEMPERATURE WAS 68.2 DEGREES. IT WAS THE 13TH WARMEST APRIL ON 
RECORD AT AUGUSTA...WHERE THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 67.4 DEGREES 
OR 4.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. AS FOR PRECIPITATION...RAINFALL ACROSS 
THE AREA WAS GENERALLY BETWEEN 2 AND 3 INCHES...WHICH IS NEAR OR 
BELOW NORMAL FOR MANY LOCATIONS. THE HEAVIEST PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS 
WERE ACROSS THE COUNTIES OF SUMTER...CALHOUN AND CLARENDON WHERE 3 
TO 6 INCHES FELL. THE LOWEST PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS WERE ACROSS 
NEWBERRY AND BURKE COUNTIES. 

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS...

THERE WERE 5 SIGNIFICANT EVENTS DURING THE MONTH OF APRIL:

ON APRIL 5TH...AN INTENSE SQUALL LINE DEVELOPED ACROSS GEORGIA AND 
THE CAROLINAS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. THERE WERE SEVERAL REPORTS OF 
STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE AND MICROBURST. THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ESTIMATED TOTAL DAMAGE ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA 
AROUND 4 MILLION DOLLARS. AREAS HIT THE HARDEST WERE: EDGEFIELD 
COUNTY; THE GREENVIEW AREA OF COLUMBIA AND NEAR WAYNESBORO IN BURKE 
COUNTY. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE NEAR 100 MPH IN THE MICROBURST.


ON APRIL 9TH...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A BACK 
DOOR COLD FRONT. THE STORMS PRODUCED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF VERY LARGE 
HAIL ACROSS THE NORTHERN MIDLANDS AND PEE DEE REGION. HAIL LARGER 
THAN A BASEBALL WAS REPORTED. THERE WERE MANY REPORTS OF HAIL 
COVERING THE GROUND...DAMAGING HOMES...CARS AND CROPS. THE INSURANCE 
INDUSTRY ESTIMATED 45 MILLION DOLLARS OF DAMAGE ACROSS SOUTH 
CAROLINA.  

ON APRIL 16TH...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A COLD 
FRONT AND PRODUCED SEVERAL REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL AND 2 WEAK 
TORNADOES ACROSS THE EASTERN MIDLANDS AND PEE DEE REGION. AN EF0 
TORNADO WAS CONFIRMED IN CLARENDON COUNTY AND AN EF1 TORNADO WAS 
CONFIRMED NEAR THE LAKE MARION DAM.

APRIL 26TH...MULTI-CELLULAR THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A COLD 
FRONT AND PRODUCED REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE ACROSS THE 
MIDLANDS AND THE PEE DEE REGION.

APRIL 28TH...A STRONG LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A 
COLD FRONT AND PRODUCED LARGE HAIL ALONG WITH NUMEROUS REPORTS OF 
STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE. 3 WEAK TORNADOES ALSO DEVELOPED BROKEN S 
SEGMENTS OF THE LINE ACROSS CALHOUN AND SUMTER COUNTIES. AN EF1 
TORNADO WAS CONFIRMED IN CALHOUN COUNTY NEAR THE TOWN OF FT. MOTTE. 
AN EF1 TORNADO WAS CONFIRMED IN SUMTER COUNTY...JUST SOUTH OF THE 
CITY OF SUMTER. AN EF0 TORNADO WAS CONFIRMED IN SUMTER COUNTY NEAR 
THE COMMUNITY OF SHILOH. 

TEMPERATURES...
RECORD DAILY TEMPERATURES FOR APRIL 2011 FOR COLUMBIA METROPOLITAN 
AIRPORT (CAE) AND AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD (AGS):

CAE...TIED 2 RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES
    90  9TH...TIED 1893* 
    89 11TH...TIED 1977* 

CAE...TIED 1 RECORD WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURES AND BROKE 1 RECORD      
      WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURE
    67 26TH...TIED 1908
    72 27TH...PREVIOUS 69 IN 1925 
     

AGS 91  9TH...PREVIOUS 89 IN 1965
    91 26TH...TIED 1986


AGS...BROKE 2 RECORD WARMEST LOW TEMPERATURES
    69 26TH...PREVIOUS 68 IN 1925
    71 27TH...PREVIOUS 1881* 

*...TIED IN LATER YEARS

COLDEST TEMP OF THE MONTH
CAE 35 4/06
AGS 33 4/06

WARMEST TEMP OF THE MONTH
CAE 90 4/09 AND 19
AGS 92 4/27



COLUMBIA SC METROPOLITAN AIRPORT (CAE) AVERAGE TEMPERATURE...

         AVG HIGH/DEP  AVG LOW/DEP   AVG TEMP  NORMAL  DEPARTURE 
JAN 2010  52.4/-2.7     29.6/-4.4     41.0      44.6    -3.6
FEB       51.8/-7.7     31.2/-5.1     41.5      47.9    -6.4
MAR       65.7/-1.7     41.1/-2.4     53.4      55.4    -2.0
APR       80.3/+4.6     51.3/+0.6     65.8      63.2    +2.6
MAY       86.6/+3.5     65.3/+5.3     76.0      71.6    +4.4
JUN       94.6/+5.5     72.8/+4.9     83.7      78.5    +5.2 
JUL       95.1/+3.0     73.7/+1.9     84.4      82.0    +2.4 
AUG       92.3/+2.3     74.6/+4.6     83.5      80.3    +3.2 
SEP       91.3/+6.5     66.6/+2.0     78.9      74.7    +4.2 
OCT       79.8/+4.0     51.2/-0.3     65.5      63.7    +1.8 
NOV       68.3/+1.6     41.9/-0.7     55.1      54.7    +0.4
DEC       51.1/-6.7     28.2/-7.9     39.6      47.0    -7.4 
ANNUAL    75.8/+0.5     52.3/+0.7     64.0      63.6    +0.4

JAN 2011  52.7/-2.4     30.7/-5.5     41.7      44.6    -2.9 
FEB       64.6/+5.1     39.7/+3.4     52.2      47.9    +4.3
MAR       68.6/+1.2     45.7/+2.2     57.1      55.4    +1.7 
APR       80.9/+5.2     54.6/+3.9     67.8      63.2    +4.6 
 

AUGUSTA GA BUSH FIELD (AGS) AVERAGE TEMPERATURE...

         AVG HIGH/DEP  AVG LOW/DEP  AVG TEMP   NORMAL  DEPARTURE
JAN 2010  53.9/-2.6     29.5/-3.6    41.7      44.8     -3.1
FEB       53.6/-7.7     30.6/-4.9    42.1      48.4     -6.3
MAR       66.0/-3.2     39.5/-3.0    52.8      55.9     -3.1
APR       80.9/+4.2     47.7/+0.4    64.3      62.4     +1.9 
MAY       86.9/+3.0     61.4/+4.2    74.2      70.5     +3.7
JUN       95.9/+6.3     69.6/+4.2    82.8      77.5     +5.3
JUL       95.8/+3.8     71.5/+1.9    83.6      80.8     +2.8
AUG       92.4/+2.2     72.2/+4.3    82.3      79.3     +3.0
SEP       91.5/+6.2     61.9/-0.5    76.7      73.8     +2.9
OCT       81.1/+4.6     47.3/-2.3    64.2      63.1     +1.1
NOV       70.1/+2.3     39.7/-1.2    54.9      54.4     +0.5
DEC       52.9/-6.2     26.0/-8.7    39.4      46.9     -7.5
ANNUAL    76.8/+1.1     49.7/-1.0    63.2      63.2      0.0

JAN 2011  54.1/-2.4     29.2/-3.9    41.7      44.8     -3.1 
FEB       65.9/+4.6     36.9/+1.4    51.4      48.4     +3.0
MAR       71.4/+2.2     43.9/+1.4    57.6      55.9     +1.7
APR       82.6/+5.9     51.6/+3.5    67.1      62.4     +4.7

PRECIPITATION...


COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT PRECIPITATION...

                    TOTAL       NORMAL      DIFFERENCE
                  (INCHES)
JANUARY 2010        3.18         4.66         -1.48  
FEBRUARY            2.88         3.84         -0.96 
MARCH               2.34         4.59         -2.25     
APRIL               0.91         2.98         -2.07  
MAY                 2.10         3.17         -1.07 
JUNE                4.20         4.99         -0.79 
JULY                7.70         5.54         +2.16 
AUGUST              5.56         5.41         +0.15 
SEPTEMBER           1.94         3.94         -2.00 
OCTOBER             1.83         2.89         -1.06 
NOVEMBER            1.46         2.88         -1.42 
DECEMBER            1.40         3.38         -1.98 
ANNUAL             35.50        48.27        -12.77

JANUARY 2011        1.70         4.66         -2.96 
FEBRUARY            4.21         3.84         +0.37 
MARCH               4.00         4.59         -0.59
APRIL               2.76         2.98         -0.22 


AUGUSTA BUSH FIELD PRECIPITATION...

                    TOTAL       NORMAL      DIFFERENCE  
                  (INCHES)  
JANUARY 2010        5.39         4.50         +0.89 
FEBRUARY            2.37         4.11         -1.74 
MARCH               3.20         4.61         -1.41 
APRIL               1.20         2.94         -1.74 
MAY                 1.36         3.07         -1.71 
JUNE                2.19         4.19         -2.00  
JULY                5.86         4.07         +1.79 
AUGUST              2.04         4.48         -2.44 
SEPTEMBER           1.89         3.59         -1.70 
OCTOBER             0.67         3.20         -2.53 
NOVEMBER            1.30         2.68         -1.38 
DECEMBER            1.17         3.14         -1.97 
ANNUAL             28.61        44.58        -15.97

JANUARY 2011        2.11         4.50         -2.39 
FEBRUARY            4.31         4.11         +0.20
MARCH               5.45         4.61         +0.84
APRIL               1.93         2.94         -1.01


.NOTE...
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