Over the next week, we'll see a little of everything in South Carolina's weather except snow and ice. You'll have to take a long drive to see that, but everything else is coming our way between now and next Friday.
It will feel like summertime today, and summery heat will continue through Sunday. The culprit for this is an unusually strong upper-level ridge (a northward meander of the jet stream winds, with an area of high pressure aloft to its south) that will remain anchored just off the Southeast Coast through Saturday before weakening and slowly drifting eastward on Sunday. Highs across South Carolina will mainly be in the 85-90° range except for high spots in the far northwest and on or near the beaches. It will also be humid, not quite the midsummer cut-it-with-a-knife sort of humidity, but you'll notice it, and it will send the heat index to the low 90s each afternoon.
The early taste of summer means we need to review heat safety. Of course, most of us know this stuff by heart, but we have newcomers from places that don't get our kind of heat and humidity, and sometimes we natives get complacent about the heat. So, here's your friendly reminder:
- Stay hydrated if you have to work or want to play in the heat. Drink lots of water before, during, and after activities, and include some electrolytes like salt, potassium, and magnesium. Avoid excessive sugar and alcohol if you're going to sweat a lot.
- Wear light-colored, loose-fitting clothing to play or work in the heat.
- Take breaks indoors or in the shade when you can.
- Keep an eye on the very young and old and your pets.
- Know the symptoms of heat-related illness, and seek help for those who show those symptoms.
- Never leave pets or children unattended in a car in the heat!
The front to our northwest will finally muscle its way into South Carolina later Sunday or Sunday night. It will bring us rain and thunderstorms into Monday, with a chance for severe storms. We'll have a risk for locally damaging winds and a few isolated tornadoes later Sunday into Sunday night as the front pushes in. The Storm Prediction Center has a part of the Upstate in a Level 2 of 5 risk area, with the rest of the Upstate, parts of the Midlands and Central Savannah River Area, and the Catawba River Area in a Level 1 risk area. We might see additional severe storms on Monday near our coast, but that will depend on how fast the front moves through. If the front is slow enough, it will remain sultry ahead of it along the Coastal Plain on Monday, and that might result in a few severe storms that day along our coast.
With a slow-moving front comes slow-moving thunderstorms with prolonged downpours. We're desperate for rain, but it might fall hard enough for isolated flash flooding Sunday night through Monday. The rain and storms will finally push offshore Monday night.
The thunderstorms Sunday night into Monday will be our springtime phase of the next week, and behind it comes about 12 hours of fall as chilly air pushes in on a gusty breeze Monday night into Tuesday. Winter's last gasp will follow that. This time of year, the sun is too intense for daytime temperatures at winter-like levels, but some rather chilly nights are ahead on Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night. Wednesday morning looks like the coldest time, with lows in the 30s widespread and a chance for the colder spots of the Upstate to reach 32°. So, you may need to protect plants from a frost that morning.
We'll remain on the cool side later next week, with a chance for some April showers at the end of the week. The timing of the next chance for rain is uncertain, but Friday looks most likely. Early indications are that next weekend will be cool and dry.
Traveler's Advisory:
If you're headed to areas from Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley to Ohio this weekend, a very slow-moving front will generate rounds of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes through Saturday, then over parts of Alabama, Georgia, and the Florida Panhandle on Sunday. Stay in touch with the weather if you'll be in these areas, and know what to do and where to find shelter should the area you're visiting receive a tornado warning. There is also a high risk for flash flooding from the slow-moving thunderstorms for the middle Mississippi Valley and Ark-La-Tex region during this time, so review flash flood safety if that's your destination.