The light rain that fell across the Midlands yesterday made it the seventh Christmas in a row where measurable precipitation was recorded in Columbia. If you include the trace amount recorded in 2004 late Christmas evening it is the eighth consecutive Christmas with any precipitation. Eleven out of the last 15 years has seen some precipitation dating back to 1998.
Thus, the trend has been one of a wet Christmas rather than a white Christmas.
It is like a cruel joke from Mother Nature. The rain was eliminated by all of the computer models on Friday and it looked like a nice weekend. Then the models reintroduced rain on the Saturday morning run, but only briefly. There was not a strong case for rain until the evening run. By that time most newscasts were over for the day due to the Christmas Eve schedules.
By Christmas morning it was obvious that it was going to rain much of the afternoon. The rain ended by early evening and skies began to clear. Both observation stations in Columbia received 0.17 inches of rain.
This is not the first time for a Christmas surprise. In 2004, it looked like the weather would be fine for Christmas and the day after. No precipitation was in the forecast. However, by Christmas morning a winter storm warning had been issued for the Midlands. A storm system had developed in the western Gulf of Mexico and snow had fallen in Houston, TX on Christmas Eve. The storm system was pushing east and would bring a mixture of freezing rain, sleet, and snow to the Midlands beginning Christmas night and into the next morning (still not a white Christmas).
The table below is a history of Christmas Day weather for Columbia, SC, dating back to 1887 and was put together by the National Weather Service Forecast Office. The office is responsible for weather forecasts, watches, and warnings for the Midlands and Augusta areas.
Table 1
Year | High Temperature | Low Temperature | Rain | Comments |
| 1887 | 45 | 37 | 0.02 | |
| 1888 | 66 | 34 | 0.00 | |
| 1889 | 72 | 51 | 0.00 | |
| 1890 | 51 | 40 | Trace | |
| 1891 | 68 | 46 | 0.00 | |
| 1892 | 53 | 28 | 0.00 | 2.0 " snow Dec 27 |
| 1893 | 70 | 48 | 0.00 | |
| 1894 | 67 | 41 | 0.00 | 1.3 "snow Dec 28, 0.3" Dec 30, 5.0" Dec 31 |
| 1895 | 72 | 46 | 0.00 | |
| 1896 | 40 | 23 | 0.00 | |
| 1897 | 34 | 28 | 0.00 | |
| 1898 | 43 | 41 | 0.00 | |
| 1899 | 50 | 41 | Trace | Trace snow Dec 28, 0.4" snow Dec 31, 0.6" snow New Years Day Jan 1, 1900 |
| 1900 | 56 | 34 | 0.00 | |
| 1901 | 69 | 48 | 0.01 | 1.5" snow Dec 19, Rained each day Dec 23 through Dec 30 (total rainfall 3.41", 1.95" on Dec 28) |
| 1902 | 51 | 32 | 0.00 | |
| 1903 | 61 | 51 | 0.79 | |
| 1904 | 68 | 54 | 0.00 | |
| 1905 | 53 | 29 | 0.00 | |
| 1906 | 37 | 17 | 0.00 | |
| 1907 | 56 | 33 | 0.00 | |
| 1908 | 63 | 46 | 0.00 | |
| 1909 | 49 | 34 | 0.40 | Trace snow Dec 20 |
| 1910 | 46 | 27 | 0.00 | |
| 1911 | 50 | 45 | 0.02 | Rained each day Dec 20 through Dec 27 |
| 1912 | 52 | 27 | 0.00 | |
| 1913 | 56 | 41 | 0.52 | Trace snow Dec 31, trace snow New Years Day Jan 1 1914 |
| 1914 | 47 | 36 | 0.75 | |
| 1915 | 70 | 38 | Trace | Trace snow Dec 20 |
| 1916 | 63 | 47 | 0.00 | |
| 1917 | 64 | 40 | 0.23 | 0.7" snow Dec 29, 1.2" snow Dec 31 |
| 1918 | 58 | 38 | 0.00 | |
| 1919 | 48 | 28 | 0.00 | |
| 1920 | 45 | 28 | 0.00 | |
| 1921 | 64 | 44 | 0.02 | |
| 1922 | 67 | 44 | 0.00 | |
| 1923 | 54 | 33 | 0.00 | |
| 1924 | 56 | 35 | 0.02 | Trace snow Christmas Day, Rained 2.69" Dec 24, rained 1.83" Dec 30 |
| 1925 | 52 | 38 | 0.00 | |
| 1926 | 76 | 44 | 0.01 | Trace snow Dec 30 |
| 1927 | 45 | 32 | 0.00 | |
| 1928 | 55 | 35 | 0.00 | |
| 1929 | 50 | 24 | 0.00 | Trace snow Dec 22 |
| 1930 | 43 | 28 | 0.00 | |
| 1931 | 65 | 47 | 0.00 | |
| 1932 | 74 | 65 | 0.26 | Rained each day Dec 25 through Dec 31 (total rainfall 1.13") Warmest average temperature (69.5 degrees |
| 1933 | 72 | 51 | 0.18 | |
| 1934 | 69 | 44 | 0.00 | |
| 1935 | 41 | 25 | 0.00 | 4.0" snow Dec 22, Trace snow Dec 28, 0.4" snow Dec 29 |
| 1936 | 68 | 35 | 0.00 | |
| 1937 | 59 | 40 | 0.00 | |
| 1938 | 57 | 35 | 0.00 | |
| 1939 | 54 | 28 | 0.00 | Trace snow New Years Day Jan 1, 1940 |
| 1940 | 59 | 50 | 0.28 | |
| 1941 | 59 | 37 | 0.86 | |
| 1942 | 53 | 37 | 0.15 | Rained each day Dec 25 through Dec 30 |
| 1943 | 38 | 28 | 0.00 | |
| 1944 | 69 | 40 | 0.00 | |
| 1945 | 55 | 33 | 1.64 | Rained each day Dec 27 through Dec 31 |
| 1946 | 59 | 40 | 0.00 | |
| 1947 | 38 | 34 | 0.81 | |
| 1948 | 39 | 32 | 0.34 | |
| 1949 | 48 | 35 | Trace | |
| 1950 | 58 | 37 | 0.00 | 0.2" Sleet Dec 28, rained each day Dec 26 through Dec 31 |
| 1951 | 61 | 33 | 0.00 | High temperature New Years Day Jan 1 1952 - 79 degrees |
| 1952 | 56 | 44 | 0.27 | |
| 1953 | 40 | 27 | 0.50 | |
| 1954 | 53 | 29 | 0.00 | |
| 1955 | 79 | 52 | 0.00 | Record high temperature for Christmas Day |
| 1956 | 52 | 31 | 0.00 | |
| 1957 | 59 | 42 | 0.19 | |
| 1958 | 46 | 26 | 0.00 | |
| 1959 | 57 | 36 | 0.01 | Trace snow Dec 21, trace snow New Years Day Jan 1 1960 |
| 1960 | 58 | 23 | 0.00 | |
| 1961 | 48 | 24 | 0.00 | |
| 1962 | 37 | 32 | 0.26 | |
| 1963 | 56 | 25 | 0.00 | |
| 1964 | 71 | 59 | 0.35 | Rained 2.86" Dec 26 - heaviest daily rainfall over holidays |
| 1965 | 64 | 40 | 0.16 | |
| 1966 | 47 | 20 | 0.00 | Trace snow Dec 30 |
| 1967 | 54 | 26 | 0.00 | |
| 1968 | 47 | 24 | 0.00 | |
| 1969 | 42 | 27 | 0.75 | Trace snow Dec 26 |
| 1970 | 51 | 30 | 0.02 | Trace snow Dec 31 |
| 1971 | 66 | 36 | 0.00 | |
| 1972 | 55 | 39 | 0.56 | Rained each day Dec 20 through Dec 25 (total rainfall 2.16") |
| 1973 | 64 | 47 | 0.09 | Rained 2.04" on New Years Day Jan 1 1974 |
| 1974 | 76 | 53 | 0.07 | New Years Day Jan 1 1975 high temperature 75 degrees |
| 1975 | 59 | 38 | 0.23 | |
| 1976 | 55 | 24 | 0.82 | |
| 1977 | 63 | 38 | 0.85 | End record 6 rainy Christmas Days in a row |
| 1978 | 59 | 33 | 0.00 | New Years day Jan 1 1979 high temperature 74 degrees |
| 1979 | 51 | 40 | 0.00 | |
| 1980 | 49 | 22 | 0.00 | Trace snow Dec 26, 0.3" snow Dec 27 |
| 1981 | 49 | 40 | 1.17 | Trace snow Dec 21, Rained total 5.36" between Dec 21 and Dec 31 |
| 1982 | 77 | 45 | 0.00 | |
| 1983 | 25 | 7 | 0.00 | Record low temperature, coldest average temperature (16 degrees) |
| 1984 | 74 | 54 | 0.00 | New Years day Jan 1 1985 high temperature 80 degrees |
| 1985 | 48 | 21 | 0.00 | |
| 1986 | 59 | 45 | 0.00 | |
| 1987 | 70 | 62 | 0.04 | |
| 1988 | 67 | 36 | 0.00 | Christmas Eve high temperature 75 degrees |
| 1989 | 44 | 20 | 0.00 | |
| 1990 | 45 | 27 | 0.00 | Rain from Dec 18th-31st except on the 25th,26th. |
| 1991 | 58 | 30 | 0.00 | Rain each day except Christmas from Dec 22nd-29th |
| 1992 | 50 | 27 | 0.00 | Rain each day except Christmas from Dec 20th-31st. Total rain 2.3 inches. New Years Day Jan 1st 1993...high temperature 74 degrees. |
| 1993 | 49 | 29 | 0.01 | Trace of Snow and Sleet on Dec 22nd and 2.3 inches of Snow on Dec 23rd. |
| 1994 | 55 | 36 | 0.00 | Rain each day from Dec 21st-23rd. 2.6 inches of rain fell on the 23rd...total of 5.02 inches fell through the period. |
| 1995 | 47 | 19 | 0.00 | |
| 1996 | 53 | 28 | 0.00 | Christmas Eve high temperature 75 degrees along with 0.70 inches of rain. Dec 31st, New Year's Eve...high temperature 79 degrees. |
| 1997 | 65 | 47 | 0.00 | Rain from Dec 21st-30th except for Christmas Day. 1.65 inches fell on Christmas Eve...rain total 3.39 inches through the period. A trace of Snow fell on the 30th. |
| 1998 | 40 | 35 | 0.30 | Rain from Dec 22nd-26th. A trace of Snow fell Christmas Eve and light freezing rain fell on the 26th. |
| 1999 | 39 | 23 | 0.00 | |
| 2000 | 41 | 22 | 0.00 | Sleet reported Dec 28th |
| 2001 | 46 | 28 | 0.00 | |
| 2002 | 48 | 33 | 0.02 | Christmas Eve thunderstorm produced 38 mph winds and a total of 1.54 inches of rain. |
| 2003 | 48 | 27 | 0.00 | |
| 2004 | 39 | 33 | T | Trace of sleet fell late Christmas evening. On Dec 26th, a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain fell. |
| 2005 | 64 | 48 | 0.49 | |
| 2006 | 56 | 48 | 0.89 | |
| 2007 | 56 | 33 | 0.10 | |
| 2008 | 69 | 59 | 0.08 | |
| 2009 | 65 | 36 | 3.06 | Wettest Christmas Day. Low Pressure dumped between 2-5 inches of rain across the region. This produced flooding across many portions of the Midlands. |
| 2010 | 51 | 26 | 0.07 |
Table 1: The information is for the Columbia Metropolitan Airport and provided by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Columbia, SC.
More rain is expected on Tuesday. It will likely be the last rainfall for the year and we may not see much if any precipitation for the next two weeks. Thus, for 2011 precipitation will be below normal and 2012 will start on a dry note. This is not good for an area already in drought.
