What Season Is It?!

WHEN: March 2010
WHERE: Charleston, SC

***WARNING***

Potentially boring post about crazy spring weather (you've been warned)!

I know...I have a blog whose title begins with the word "time", but I am seriously questioning if I know what time (of the year) it is.  In the span of the past week, Charleston has experienced every season of the year, and in no order for that matter.  It seemingly went from summer to spring to winter to fall...and now back to spring.

Last Tuesday, the high was 88°, breaking the record for that day by one degree.  The following day it was 86° and Thursday it was 82°, so as someone who loves the heat, I was thrilled about summer's early arrival.  In fact, during the preceding week it had climbed into the 80's four out of the seven days.  Not only was it warm but it was dry - bone dry!  We're talking blue skies, no clouds, and humidity below 20%, about as dry as the desert southwest.  Because of all the heat and low humidity, 57 wildfires broke out in South Carolina last Wednesday alone.  One of them, which turned into a 2,600 acre blaze, occurred in the northern part of Charleston county.  What was all this, July?  Nope, March.

Friday the mercury only climbed to 67°, jacket weather for sure after growing accustomed to the summer weather.  While it was a brisk day for Charlestonians, it was only four degrees below average for the day.  It really was more aligned with a spring day here.  Maybe it was March after all?

Saturday it reached 78° and the day started out full of sun and warmth.  Stacie and I went out for a walk in our neighborhood and it really felt like it was going to be another 80°+ day.  That all changed in the afternoon when the storm clouds (lightning, thunder and all) rolled in during the afternoon and we got our first rain in over 2 weeks.  As much as I love a warm, sunny day, we really did need the rain and it helped to wash away a lot of the pollen and green things up even more.  Sunday the rain continued but the temperature dropped down to 65° for the high.  It rained on and off all day, which made the weekend mostly an indoors event.  Between the deep greens and thickening vegetation brought out by the rain, and the scattered thunder and lightning, the weekend felt like some mix between summer and spring. 

Charleston had received about the least amount of precipitation anywhere east of the Mississippi, prior to last weekend's rain.

As of today, after this past week's rainfall, we have caught up with most of the rest of the eastern half of the country in terms of precipitation.

Winter hit Monday - hard and out of nowhere!  Even as of Saturday morning the forecast was for a high in the upper-50's, well below average for Charleston in late-March.  By the time Monday was written in the record books, we hadn't even reached 50° that day.  Nope, the high in Charleston on Monday was a frigid...47°!  The high!  Our lows had been warmer than that for most of the past two weeks! I can already hear the disgust of our families up north, listening to me complain about 47°.  Let me put things in to perspective.

First off, Monday was also overcast, rainy, and windy all day, with wind chills well into the 30's.  Just six days before it was 88°, setting a new record high for that day.  Now, six days later, it was 47°, breaking a new low-high record for the day.  It was 25° below average Monday and it was snowing in North Carolina.  Yes, Monday it was 11° below the coldest average in January for Charleston. We're talking about March 28 here! 

Monday was the coldest day (below average) of 2011 in Charleston!

I know I have lost most of you by now, going on about temperatures and over-using the °°°°°°°°° symbol.  To offer some direct perspective of the cold and why I am so upset about the weather the past two days, let me illustrate to our families in the Midwest how cold it was (with more temperatures of course!).

A high of 11° below the coldest average for January would translate to a high on March 28 of 10° in Minneapolis, MN or 14° in Waterloo, IA.  We went from 17° above average to 25° below average in just six days.  From breaking a high to breaking a low.  "Frigid Monday" (as I'm calling it), just 4 days away from April, was the 7th coldest day of the year in Charleston!  And if it were not for another well-below-average week in January,  March 28 would have been the 2nd coldest day of the year so far here.  What is this, January?  Nope, almost April.

High temperatures on March 28
Yep!  It was warmer in Boston than it was in Charleston.

Snow cover as of March 28 (far too close to South Carolina)

The cold snap, peaking on Monday, was all thanks to a front straight out of the Arctic that had pushed itself all the way into the deep south, bringing snow as far south as North Carolina.  It was just part of the mix in a week that brought the country tornadoes, wildfires, and snowstorms.  

The week has remained cold and below average here in Charleston and has for much of the country.  I think many of us are sick of riding this crazy meteorology train we've been on since spring started.  Some may have already forgotten it is spring, like those in the northeast starting off April with a snowstorm tonight.  Thankfully it IS April tomorrow and as bad as winter may have been and spring has already been, we know it can only get warmer before it gets colder.  Summer is more in sight every day!

The beautiful spring foliage in our front yard today.  While it sure looks like spring, it sure hasn't felt like it this week!

The sun and warmth are finally supposed to return here tomorrow and this weekend, right in time for the Flowertown Festival in Summerville.  Stacie and I are excited to get outside again, enjoy spring, and experience all the food and fun at the festival.  It will be a necessity after surviving this past week.  Maybe it is spring after all?