South Carolina, 2016

Wildfire in South Carolina, November 9 to 30, 2016

November 9 to 30, 2016 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An extended period of abnormally dry weather and drought conditions that began in late winter of 2016, and continued through the year resulted in very dry vegetation across the South Carolina mountains and foothills by mid-autumn. These conditions were exacerbated by an unusually warm summer and fall, when temperatures averaged as much as 5 degrees above normal.

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 GSP wrote it up.

An extended period of abnormally dry weather and drought conditions that began in late winter of 2016, and continued through the year resulted in very dry vegetation across the South Carolina mountains and foothills by mid-autumn. These conditions were exacerbated by an unusually warm summer and fall, when temperatures averaged as much as 5 degrees above normal. In these conditions, a large wildfire ignited and spread during early November, and was not completely contained until a cold front brought much-needed rain to the area at the end of the month.

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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 9, 6:39 PM EST, 1 hour 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 9, 6:39 PM EST, 1 hour 51 minutes before
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Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Pickens Mountains

When
November 9, 8:30 PM EST to November 30, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Pickens Mountains forecast zone
Reported by
Park/Forest Service

The Pinnacle Mountain Fire burned more than 10,000 acres in the Table Rock/Pinnacle Mountain area throughout the last three weeks of November. At least one day of evacuations was ordered during active fire weather periods.

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, November 2016

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 667193.