Drought in South Carolina, May 1 to 31, 2002

Name: Drought in South Carolina, May 1 to 31, 2002
Start: 2002-05-01T00:00
End: 2002-05-31T23:59
Location: South Carolina

May 1 to 31, 2002 · NWS CHS · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Moderate to severe drought conditions continued over south coastal South Carolina through the month of May. 28 inches below the normal for the month.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 9

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS CHS wrote it up.

Moderate to severe drought conditions continued over south coastal South Carolina through the month of May. Rainfall for the month was 2.39 inches which was 1.28 inches below the normal for the month. This continued the trend of deficit rain fall.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 8:45 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:45 PM EST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
945 PM EDT TUE APR 30 2002

CONVECTION THAT MOVED INTO THE AREA EARLIER THIS EVENING HAS FIZZLED
WITH ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY NOW FIRING S AND W OF THE CWA. ATMOSPHERE
IS CAPPED OVER THE CWA AND INSTABILITY PARAMETERS ARE BORDERLINE.
HELICITY VALUES ARE IN THE 200 TO 300 RANGE WITH E TO SE WINDS AT
THE SFC AND STRONG WRLY WIND AT H7. LOOKS LIKE WE WILL NEED THE WARM
FRONT TO MOVE N INTO OR AT LEAST CLOSER TO THE CWA IN ORDER FOR
CONVECTION TO INITIATE. WARM FRONT CURRENTLY LINGERING JUST S OF CWA
AND GETTING A LITTLE DIFFUSE DUE TO PREVIOUS CONVECTION. SHOWER
ACTIVITY IN THE OVERRUNNING AREAS NOT OUT OF THE QUES ALSO LATER
TONIGHT AS BETTER LIFT MAKES ITS WAY NE. TEMPS CURRENTLY RIGHT
AROUND FCST LOWS BUT SHOULD NOT FALL MUCH MORE BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY
INCREASE LATER TONIGHT. CURRENT FCST LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK. WILL HOLD
OFF ON ANY UPDATES UNTIL HAVE A BETTER HANDLE ON CONVECTIVE
SCENARIO. FOR NOW LIKELY POPS STILL POSSIBLE LATER TONIGHT.

MARINE...WINDS HAVE SHIFTED TO SE OVER THE WATERS AND HAVE DROPPED
OFF TO LESS THAN 10 KT. SEAS HAVE SUBSIDED TO 2 TO 4 FT. EXPECT
WINDS TO PICK UP OUT OF THE S LATER TONIGHT AS WARM FRONT LIFTS N OF
THE WATERS AND LOW PRES DEVELOPS ALONG THE FRONT. WILL MAKE A FEW
ADJUSTMENTS TO INITIAL CONDITIONS BASED ON LATEST OBS BUT KEEP
CURRENT TREND IN PLACE.

CHS   66  89  70  94 /  60  30   0   0
SAV   68  91  68  94 /  60  20   0   0    RECORDS    CHS      SAV
CHL   66  87  73  92 /  60  30   0   0      WED    93/1996  94/1990
NBC   68  91  70  94 /  60  30   0   0      THU    95/1990  96/1990
RBW   66  90  67  95 /  60  30   0   0

.CHS...
GA...NONE.
SC...NONE.

SLF

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Allendale

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Allendale forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 32.988, -81.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Beaufort

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Beaufort forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL

Drought, Berkeley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Berkeley forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 33.198, -79.951 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Charleston

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Charleston forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL

Drought, Dorchester

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Dorchester forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 33.080, -80.406 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Hampton

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Hampton forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 32.776, -81.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Jasper

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Jasper forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL

Drought, Northern Colleton

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Northern Colleton forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL
Coordinates: 32.843, -80.650 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Southern Colleton

When: May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where: Southern Colleton forecast zone
Reported by: GOVT OFFICIAL

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in South Carolina in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in South Carolina, May 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5296306, 5296307, 5296308, 5296309, 5296310, 5296311, 5296312, 5296313, 5296314.